Dimensional Drift: Siblings and Superpowers
by The High Lord of Terra
Summary: He didn't plan to take Danville. Just a few meaningless lives. Then he'd go after something larger: the Tri-state area. Third genre Action. Later chapters not for the faint of heart. Rated for violence, character death, and some language. No pairings YET.
1. Prologue

**Prologue  
**

**A/N: Ok, guys, so it's been a while since I've submitted anything on here. A very long time. I'm not going to bore you guys the specifics, as that would make these A/Ns even lengthier than they already are. But first, a few updates: Omega and No Change Is A Good Change (NCIAGC) have been halted for now while I work on production of this story. Hopefully, once this is done, I'll finish up NCIAGC, which shouldn't take too much longer. (I hope) Or it might. I'm either adding one more chapter or adding several. I'm not completely sure yet.**

**Secondly, I wanted to state that I do NOT own Phineas and Ferb, who are owned by Disney. THIS INCLUDES THE ENTIRE STORY. But maybe, just maybe, after the series ends…**

**Anywho, I wanted to give a few shoutouts to some of my good friends on Fanfic. (yes, I'm gonna drag these out for quite a bit, so if you want to get to the story, just skip the bold.) To Comment person, 200trackrunner, ktag, Lancelot Varianter, Shadowstar556, and anyone who reviewed any and all of my stories, a large thank you to you guys. And let's not forget our fellow authors overseas. My thanks to anyone else who read my stories. And a bit of a side note, I find it really funny that my **_**oneshot**_** got more hits **_**and**_** reviews than either of my multi-chapter stories. Real nice, you guys. Reeeeaaaal nice. Heh, I'm kidding. You guys are great.**

**And now, for a special guest: my Beta Reader! Give her a big hand, everyone, it's… time for the story!**

**Note: the "**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**" is a separator, nothing more. And for those of you who can't really see it, I'll also be using other symbols. (They are **_**kinda**_** hard to read).**

-The 12th dimension-

**15 years ago**  
_Everything has been building up to this point_, the hooded figure thought. _All that is left to do is set the timer._

His finger dangled less than an inch away from the countdown button, which was set at a little more than two hours. It would be so easy, just to press the button and sit back on the couch with a cold one, watching the destruction play out as the world ended around him. Oh, he would savor this moment until his beautiful contraption ripped apart this entire dimension. But there was one thing he had to do first. 

He walked through his penthouse apartment, which he'd bought for a fairly small amount of money. Later he had realized why it had cost so little: every day and night, the light house outside the harbor attracted ships, which blew their foghorns like nobody's business. This hadn't been too difficult to change, since his younger brother was Mayor of Jeffville, his town of residence. Unlike when they were younger, the figure had gotten his brother to agree with and passed a law that prohibited the use of foghorns when there was no fog. This had suited the city quite well, and only strengthened the bond between the two brothers when that simple law had gotten the Mayor re-elected after a very close poll last year. The only reason the Mayor had won was because of the support of all the citizens who lived in the city that had been also troubled by the constant blaring of foghorns, since there was almost always no fog on Jeffville Harbor. The Mayor had then called his brother up to the stand and congratulated him on thinking about the good of the people. The man who had been given checks and praise for what seemed to be common sense was the exact same one who now walked down the hallway to his room to get the final things he needed to complete his doomsday device. As he entered his room, he strolled by a rack of miniaturized brown fedoras, each one bearing a letter on it along with a picture of its former owner. 

"Hmmm. I think I'm feeling a bit platypus today," the evil scientist surveyed the rack and picked up the hat that lay beside the letter "P", along with a picture of a rather innocent looking platypus. The evil scientist smiled with genuine respect towards that picture. This had been his longest-lasting nemesis, both the most recent and the most successful. But, as they both knew, it only took one slip-up to cause defeat, and that, sadly, had happened. Had it not been the case, this machine would have been destroyed a long time ago, and the OWCA would still be up and running. But now, the Major and his intern had fled far away from Jeffville, probably hoping against logic to recruit some other agents to stall him until they could find a way to save this dimension. But by now it was too late. And they knew it. They knew they'd been too weak to stop him, and so they had run and hid like mice trying to hide from any sort of impending doom. That event unto itself had snapped something within the figure. It had caused his epiphany, the fact that all people were cowards. That they would run from the slightest danger; run from anything they didn't know. The scientist had an immense hatred for people like that, cowards who would flee as soon as they realized they were defeated. Had their places been switched, the man would have held on and kept on fighting until the end, no matter what. But had this so-called major? No! He had pledged his service and life for his country, but when danger threatened it, he had picked up and ran as fast as his old legs could carry him. By this standard alone, the man felt he was doing the multiverse a favor. And not only that, but he was also doing the people on this planet a favor. His fellow evil accomplices had already seized control over most of the world, and were planning on finally shaping their own territories in their own twisted images. By doing what he planned to do, the figure would actually be saving many people from heinous tortures thought up by half-mad or downright insane scientists. In the end, he knew it was the right thing to do. Plus, it would certainly satisfy this grudge he had against this entire world. Then he slid back into reality, and looked down at the fedora stand before deciding to place the hat back on its stand. 

The scientist, who had done some army service, snapped a crisp salute to his fallen frenemy, then left the room, laden with equipment that would be necessary to watch the beginning of the end. Let's see, he thought to himself, Camera, check. Universal high-range pre-empting antenna, check. Microphone, check. Tripod and wiring, check. Binoculars for watching the mayhem unfold, check. Youth...inator, check. And finally, inter-dimensional transporter, check. 

And now for the fun to begin, the scientist thought, and switched on his television. It was still on some dry soap opera channel that he had always been fond of broadcasting over. One of his more petty grudges, he had to admit, but this would be almost as fun as watching what happened next unfold around him. With everything finally set up, the evil scientist was about to pre-empt the soap until it hit him: what was he going to say? What would he call himself? He really didn't want to use his mother's maiden name, but it had been thrust upon him and his brother so often that he couldn't even remember what his father's surname was anymore. Oh well, he thought to himself. It's not like too many people will live to mock my name. Scratch that, it isn't like any will live to mock my name. Looked like he'd just have to wing it. And so, with a morbid happiness in his heart, the scientist watched the soap cut from wherever in the storyline it was at to the camera he had set in front of him. 

He cleared his throat. This was the moment of truth. He began, his deep, smooth, German accented voice speaking into the microphone mounted below the camera, "We pre-empt your current programming to bring to your attention a matter much more important than your puny sports games, soap operas, and sitcoms. We, here in beautiful Jeffville, are here to bring a message to the entire earth. My name is Metalleas Doofenshmirtz..." he paused, holding the suspense for just a bit longer. He smiled malevolently at the camera, hoping that many of the viewers shuddered. He was really going to enjoy this. 

~~~~  
**ΩΩΩ**

"My name is Metalleas Doofenshmirtz..." A new father, Marius, pulled his wife over to the TV, their infant son resting in her arms, asleep. His wife of two years, Diana, gave Marius an inquisitive look at the TV, which had just been showing the final seconds of the 31st Super bowl. Though one team had already won this one, but it was Marius' tradition to see the game all the way to the end, no matter what. Diana was about to ask her husband what had happened to his game when the man on the TV, who called himself Metalleas, the brother to their Mayor, Robert, finished what he was saying, "...and you all only have two hours and counting before this entire dimension explodes." And with that, Metalleas pressed a series of buttons, causing a whirring noise to emit from behind him. "As you will soon see," the evil man continued, "the first sign that our universe is ending is in the night sky. All of you, step outside and watch as stars begin to die..." 

Diana, frightened out of her wits, rushed to the sliding glass door that led to their backyard and threw it open, staring up into the heavens. And then it happened. The North Star, Polaris, glowed brightly, and then began to dim until it could be seen no more. As if this had started a chain reaction, the entire constellation of Ursa Major, Big Dipper and all, flared for an entire second, and then went out. Ursa Minor followed suit. Then Scorpio. Then Aquarius. Cancer. Draco. Gemini. Cassiopeia. Leo. Libra. Aries. Capricorn. Many others followed, with both Canis Major and Minor disappearing from view. Then, with a monstrous flash of light, the only stars left were the ones that composed of the constellation of Orion. The final constellation. The only one that didn't go out, Marius thought. Maybe if it doesn't go out, then that evil man's plan will have failed, and we won't be annihilated within the next two hours. But then Orion flashed, and the stars that made him up dimming into nonexistence. When Marius looked up now, it was only those three stars that made Orion's belt that were left in the entire night sky. And one by one, these too were gone, throwing a shroud of nothingness over the night sky. 

And then the two realized: where there should have been a full moon, there was nothing. No reflection of any kind. Not even a glimmer of light. Marius could hear Metalleas finishing up whatever he was saying, "There are no demands, no kill switches, no way this can be reversed. You have all lost. There is no mercy, no remorse, and no respite here. There will only be your deaths, and there will be no survivors in this dimension. This, brothers and sisters, is the final end of the world." And with that, the TV was cut.  
Diana broke down right then and there, nearly dropping the baby before regaining her composure and placing the baby back inside the house. It was even more disturbing since the baby merely stared at his mother. She stroked a few locks of his black hair away, the only pieces of hair he had, since he was almost six months old. And then she began to cry. Marius knew enough that he had to let her let it out, and not bother her at all. So he left her to her tears, resolving to do something, anything, which would cheer her up. Of course, he realized that this was truly the end, but he refused to just roll over for it. He was an inventor, damn it, and he knew enough that he could do something about this if he really tried. 

He reached his workshop, an offshoot from the garage, and stepped inside, clearing off the blueprints from that table, and tossed them all on the floor. Then he took up one of them, his plan for a space-time flux capacitor, and flipped it over, beginning to map out schematics for this new invention. After around fifteen minutes of intense thought and drawing, Marius held the blueprint up, examining it one last time. Judging it satisfactory, he picked up the land line that he kept in his workshop and called over his two closest friends, along with their families. 

~~~~  
**ΘΘΘ**

"Marius?" One man asked, "What are these things?" he gestured to the three egg-shaped pods that were by no means large enough to carry an adult. 

Marius, who was still holding a sobbing Diana, their baby in her own arms, replied, "Inter-dimensional travelers." 

The other man, who held his daughter, scoffed, "You can't be serious...how are we supposed to fit in those?"

Marius looked at him, his navy blue eyes flashing with annoyance. The first man, who stood beside his wife, who held their son, gave him a meaningful look. His British accent flowed through the workshop as he had to finally answer the question. "We don't," he simply spoke, his wife nodding, her chocolate brown hair bobbing with her as she finally composed herself, straightening out her black shirt. The man, who, oddly enough, had green hair, turned to his red-headed brother, Marius, "Do we?"

Marius sighed, "No, Xavier, we don't."

Diana looked up at him, her raven black hair disheveled from the constant crying, "Marius?" He looked into those midnight blue eyes he'd fallen in love with. "Then who?"

The skeptic finally grasped the meaning of this, "Oh, God... I'm still stuck here..." Then his epiphany was completed, "This is for our kids..."

Marius nodded, "Yes, yes it is, Ortega."

Xavier's wife, Ariel, who was actually older than her husband, along with everyone else in the room, finally regained her composure, and whispered something him. "Are you sure?" he whispered to her, and was given a nod.

She strolled over to one of the pods and opened the door up. "I'm ready to do this," she looked Marius in the eye. "I trust you enough to do this, so I hope it works."

Marius turned to Xavier, who gave him a short nod of his approval. Then he turned to Ortega, "You ready to do this?"

Ortega got a huge gulp of air before answering, "I'm ready." He stepped beside Ariel, ready to place his daughter into the life pod.

Marius finally turned to Diana, again being met with those deep blue eyes. "And you?"  
Diana didn't hesitate for a second. "Of course," she answered, taking their son over to the final pod. She looked down the line, staring at every single face that she'd come to know and love. These people, who may not be related to her by blood, were her brothers and sister, the people she'd die with, the people who she'd spend her last minutes on earth with. "Where will we send them?"

Marius stood by a computer screen, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he scrolled through the different places he could send his son and the others. "11th dimension? No, they've got their hands full in a civil war. 5th? Dictator ship. 6th? Tempting, but they're still rebuilding after some revolution. 2nd? Possibly, but they're still getting through some civil rights problems and discrimination. 1st? We've got different names, and we've all just been born, but that seems like it'll work..." Marius listed off the dimensions. Xavier walked up beside him and pointed at some fine print at the bottom. "Oh, well would you look at that!" Marius exclaimed.

"What?" Diana asked, ready to draw her child away from something that might send him into territory almost as bad as the one they were in.

"It says here," Marius answered, "that there's some element in our air that isn't in the 1st dimension. In there, there's a gene unique to people outside their dimension that can cause those outsiders to have certain... abilities."

"Such as?" Ortega asked, his massive frame swiveling to look at Marius.

"Well, to put it simply, we can all just say that Superman wasn't from that dimension."

Diana gaped at him, "So in that dimension they'll be able to fly and have super-strength?"

Marius accessed the dimension's details. "Hmmmmm... not exactly." He motioned to the baby Ariel held, "Jarv here is invincible when protecting others, but not when attacks are targeted towards him. He's also a minor telepath, along with slightly enhanced strength. Mind you, not lift-a-skyscraper-with-one-hand strong, more like tossing-a-car-with-extreme-effort strong." Ariel smiled at his way of describing the traits.

Next was Ortega's child, who was being held not too tightly against her father's chest. Marius looked at her, "It seems as if Annabell has both control over weather and is a healer." Her father smiled proudly. "Oh, and it seems as though she has super-speed. She can run at the speed of light in that dimension." Ortega grinned even wider. Marius turned to his son, who Diana held tightly. "And last, but certainly not least, my son Luther has control of lightning, can create force fields, and seems to be able to draw upon the raw energy from this dimension and use it as his own. Very interesting."

Ortega looked at him, "How does that work out?" he asked. "Shouldn't this dimension be nothingness, and then there wouldn't be anything to draw power from?"

Marius smiled, "Close, Ortega," he answered, "But you're forgetting that every universe, no matter which dimension, is ever-expanding, and so if this is designed to destroy this entire universe, then the explosion will also be ever-expanding."

"So who will we send them to?" Diana asked, her eyes darting back and forth between her husband and the pods.

Marius scratched his beard, thinking for a second. Then he decided on the spot. "I'm pretty sure that any child in my younger self's world will just make separation between him and the step-brother he'll eventually get. So we can't send anyone to my mother. Luther will go to you and your mom, Diana," he told her, and then turned to the others. "Annabell can go with your wife, Ortega, this way she has a female influence" Ortega nodded in understanding, "She'll go to the Sweetwaters," again Ortega nodded, this time in approval. "And finally, Jarv ought to be around some tougher guys. Xavier, as long as you guys don't object, I'm going to send Jarv to the Van Stomm household."

Xavier smiled wanly, "It'll be fine, Marius."

Ortega chimed in, "Cool! I always wanted a brother!"

Marius shook his head, "We can't let them interfere with the timeline. I'm going to write a few letters with instructions on each pod, giving instructions as to what exactly to do with them once they reach a certain age." He began to scribble some things down on a piece of paper lying around, which turned out to be his plan for a powerful exoskeleton he'd never actually built. He tore the blueprint into three sections and addressed them each to a different household. Within ten minutes, he had finished the letters and entered the coordinates into the machine. "They're ready."

Diana, Ortega, and Ariel all stepped forward, their children held in their arms. The convex doors of the pods hissed open, yawning maws ready to take the child that was placed inside away from the doomed dimension into a new world. Their parents complied with the pods' wishes, placing their first and only children into the pods and closing the doors shut. It only made it worse that none of the children made a sound. Marius handed the letters to each of the adults, who made sure the letters were on the pod in any way possible.

Marius glanced up at the coordinates, double checking and triple checking them to make sure they were right. They were. With the final push of a button, Marius sent the children into a new dimension and a new life. There was a blinding flash of light as the pods ripped through the entire time-space continuum, traveling through the inter-dimensional rift that had been created by their entry into the first dimension. Marius finally cut the power when the sensors indicated that the pods had made it.

They all were silent for the longest time, until Marius beckoned for the others to come over to look at the screen. He pulled up two lines of text, one of them slowly descending. This was labeled 'Countdown', and could only be the amount of time they all had left on this earth. The second displayed the information of the area the pods had been sent. Despite everything, Marius began to laugh uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?" Ortega asked, cutting Marius off in mid-laugh.

"Some of the names on here... priceless!" Marius began to laugh again as the others looked over to see what he was reading.

Diana burst out laughing first, "Phineas?" She finally said, looking at her husband. "You're named Phineas? That's rich!"

Ariel scrolled through the names. Then she began to laugh, "I have a father named Heinz? Like the brand of ketchup? That's almost as good as Phineas!"

Next was Xavier, "Ferb? I'm Ferb? Where do they find these names?" For once in front of his other friends, he roared with laughter. It felt quite good.

Ortega glanced down the names. "Hmmmmm. Buford? Not bad. Sounds pretty tough. Whoa! Guys, look at this!" He beckoned to his friends to come and they did, with some wiping tears away from their eyes.

"BALJEET?" they all shouted in unison, and then burst out laughing so hard it began to hurt. By now, they all knew they were so delirious that even the slightest thing would make them laugh.

Finally, Ortega regained his composure before finally reading the town's name, "This is comedy gold! Who names their town DANville?" He began to roll on the floor laughing harder than he ever had before.

When the laughing had finally finished, they all looked up to see the timer was giving them less than ten minutes before the end. Marius was the first one to break the silence, "If you guys want, you can stay here for our final time alive."

This sobered everyone up. "Of course we will," Xavier answered, gripping Ariel around her waist. C'mon, let's head inside." They all began to head inside so that they could just talk and enjoy each other's company.

But Ortega stayed behind. "I can't," he spoke gruffly, turning away to hide the tears in his eyes.

"Why?" was the only response he got.

He looked back at Marius, deep pain in his eyes. "I need to find her," he finally answered, "I need to find Adys- I mean 'Becca. I'm sorry. It's just that-" he nearly broke down, cursing those other dimensional names for almost making him say his wife's name wrong.

Marius nodded, understanding what he had done. "Take my car," he answered, tossing the keys to his flying car across the garage into Ortega's large hands. "Good luck, Sarge," he finished, referring to the man who had served a few years in the military before settling down back in Jeffville, his hometown. Ortega, Marius, and Xavier all saluted each other, and with a curt nod, Ortega walked over to what Marius enthusiastically called: 'The Flying Car of the Future- Today', and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Thank you," he whispered, mostly to himself, but not thinking anyone else could here it. He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Ortega, I knew you had that softer side," Diana answered him from the window frame. She reached through the window and hugged him tightly, something she wouldn't have done when they were children. Beside Diana stood Marius, Ariel and Xavier, his only friends that stayed with him throughout his life. He started the car, and began to lift off, waving to them as he pulled away.

"Goodbye!" he shouted through the window. and with that, he flew off into the night, ready to find his wife.

Marius led the others back inside, allowing Ariel and Xavier to head into the living room and spend their final minutes together. He wrapped an arm around Diana's waist. "Come on," he led her outside into the workshop. "I want to get as much 'us time' in as I can before we're gone."

Diana replied, "Of course, 'Phineas'."

Marius snickered, "Well then," he answered, playfully tickling her, "let's get going, 'Isabella'."

Diana squealed with laughter and ran back into the workshop, allowing her husband to catch her around the waist. She pulled him onto the couch that he'd put in for relaxation, and their faces pressed together, lips perfectly fitting with their partner's. They held this for some time before each had to come up for air. Marius looked Diana in the eye and she could see the message he was saying: 'I knew from the start we'd always be together'. She understood and kissed him again, feeling like she was floating in the air as he kissed her back in a deep, passionate kiss that seemed to last a lifetime. The only thing that caused them to stop again was an obnoxious beeping that was coming from the screen behind them. Marius quickly pulled his wife up from the couch, holding her tightly.

"The final minute for us," he spoke sadly. "Let's go get Xavier and Ariel."

They stepped out of the workshop into the garage, meeting Xavier and Ariel as they entered through the opposite side. Marius could tell from Ariel's disheveled appearance that Xavier had had the same idea as he before they were also alerted by the beeping. As soon as Xavier saw what was causing the noise, he pulled Ariel into a tight hug and they both move closer to the other couple. Diana squeezed her own husband tightly, and he put a protective arm around her, hoping to ease her fear. With his other arm, he place a hand on Xavier's shoulder, looking him in the eye. "It's been fun, Brother," he finally spoke as the clock ticked down the final ten seconds.

"I wouldn't have traded those times for the world," Xavier answered as the clock went down to five.

Marius looked down at Diana, who looked back up. With a whispered 'I love you' to his wife, Marius kissed her for the last time as the world exploded around him. 

~~~  
**ΓΓΓ**

-The 1st dimension-

**15 years ago**

"You know what?" Mr. Garcia-Shapiro shouted, his eyes alight with fury. "I don't care how badly you want me to stay, I'm leaving!"

"No!" his wife cried, trying to keep him from leaving while still trying to retain a hold on the wailing infant in her arms. "You can't do this!"

Mr. Garcia-Shapiro shrugged her off, "And just what's going to stop me from doing so, Vivian?" He said her name like it was the most hated word in the English language.

"She is," Vivian Garcia-Shapiro held his new daughter out to him, "Even if you refuse to accept it, she is your daughter."

"Do you even realize what has happened?" Mr. Garcia-Shapiro asked her. "Yes, it was a one-night stand, but I'm married. I can't stay here, even if I wanted to."

Vivian's eyes filled with tears as the one man she thought would have been her husband began to head towards the exit of her suburban Danville home. "You... never wanted to spend any time with me?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. This had been the same man who had been the closest thing she'd had to a soul mate, the same who had kissed her like he'd meant it.

Mr. Garcia-Shapiro laughed in her face, "Don't you get it, Vivian? Beer goggles. You've heard of 'em, right?" She nodded. "Well there's your answer. I was drunk. I admit that. But I do not- and never will- accept this girl," he pointed to the six-month-old Isabella Vivian held in her arms. "She is not my daughter and you are not my wife. Things will never change. Ever."

Vivian's face turned bright red, "You little..."

Mr. Garcia-Shapiro laughed, "I don't care what you say, you both mean nothing to me." With that, he strolled out the front door, the keys to his car in hand. Just before he went out the door, he stooped and picked up a package from the porch that was addressed to Vivian. "Oh, and you got some package for ya on the porch. Good-bye." He walked over to his car, and drove away, never to come to Danville again.

~~~  
**ΞΞΞ**

For one straight hour, Vivian held her new daughter, Isabella, close to her and sobbed before she realized that there was a quiet whimpering coming from the room. She looked at Isabella, but her infant had fallen asleep in her mother's arms. She checked around the room, finally noticing the package he'd been talking about. Carefully placing her daughter down, Vivian Garcia-Shapiro opened the large box, her skin coming into contact with cold metal. She drew back for a second before again opening the box a bit more, catching a glimpse of a dull silver and the off-white of paper.

Finally gathering her courage, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro opened the box all the way, her gaze greeted with an egg-shaped pod that seemed all too familiar, along with a letter. She took the letter in both hands, and read it.

_Dear Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro,  
I hope this package's arrival did not interrupt you while you were doing something important. If it did, I'm sorry. However, time was of the essence, and so it needed to get to you as quickly as possible. In case you're wondering, this package is not from this universe. It is from the 12th dimension. Within the pod that is in the box is my son, Luther. As my mother-in-law, I plead for you to take care of him._

I do realize you'll have your hands full dealing with Isabella, but Luther is family to both you and I, as your daughter is his mother. Or at least in our dimension. And please don't try to send Luther back. Even if you could, he'd be going back to nothing. Our dimension is to be destroyed and by the time you read this, I will most certainly be dead. My only and final request from you is that you raise Luther as Isabella's brother. But be careful, for since Luther is not from this dimension, he has a certain set of genes that will give him certain "gifts", such as drawing upon the energy of his lost dimension, controlling lightning or electricity, and creating force fields. Just be careful to keep him from being exposed. I have no wish for my son to be the subject of intensive medical studies.

If you are anywhere as nice as you are in our dimension, I have faith that you'll raise my son right. Thank you for doing something nice for us, who are technically complete strangers. Good Luck.

_Sincerely,  
Marius "Phineas" Flynn and Diana "Isabella" Flynn  
_  
Vivian read the letter over three different times, each time reading the exact same thing. The 12th dimension was gone now too? She sighed. At least she had retained her abilities as a limiter. She could keep her new son's powers in check... for the moment. She herself was not truly from this world either, but from the twelfth-and-a-half dimension, which had been destroyed almost a lifetime ago. When she'd gotten here, she'd learned of her powers, and how they could be put to use in this dimension. Not only did she have powers of limiting others' powers, she also had the power to somehow (she still didn't know how) charm men with a simple glance. That's what had happened with this last man, though she'd never let it go this far. She had to admit, it wasn't completely his fault. It was more hers than his, since she too hadn't been thinking straight.

She was brought out of her memories by a quiet wailing that came from within the pod that now lay on her floor. She carefully pulled the door open, revealing a young male with a slight tan tinge to his skin and deep brown eyes, along with deep brown hair. The young boy stared at his new mother, and lifted his tiny arms out, wanting to be held. Vivian picked him up and carried him over to Isabella before placing him beside the sleeping toddler. Fortunately, the two children were both just old enough that Vivian didn't need to worry about them as much as a one-month-old. Should they have fallen over, either of them had enough strength to push themselves back up so that they wouldn't suffocate. Luther curled up beside his new sister, his nose rubbing against her hair, which only came down to her shoulders. As it turned out, Isabella actually had quite long hair for an infant her age, and Vivian's doctor had nothing to explain why it was happening. He had hypothesized, however, that eventually the growth would slow to that which was considered normal for a child. Vivian lifted up the recliner and eased herself into it. She resolved to keep her ex's last name, since, whether he liked it or not, he was part of her family, as he had fathered Isabella. Besides, she felt that Luther's entrance was the beginning for a new life. Luther had filled the gap she'd had when he'd left. Now she was complete.

~~~  
**ΠΠΠ**

Jorge Van Stomm was just getting home from his construction site when he noticed the package lying in the grass out on his front lawn. He hadn't ordered anything recently, so he assumed it was his wife's purchase, though he had no idea what it could be. Just last night she'd told him that she didn't need anything else at the moment besides food and water. He shook his head, sighing. _Sometimes, I just don't understand women,_ he thought as he lifted the package up under one arm and lugged it into his home.

"Honey, I'm home!" he shouted, making sure he made himself heard over whatever his wife was preparing for dinner. "Ay, little buddy," he placed the package on one of the side tables in the small, cramped living room and lifted his son up in his arms. "How's mommy been takin' care of you, Buford?" he asked, not expecting to get a response. He didn't.

"Jorge, what do you have here?" his wife, Biff's, voice called from behind him. He set Buford back in his little playpen, turning to face his wife.

"Didn't you order something?" Jorge asked, looking at her, puzzled.

"Of course not, honey," she answered, also looking confused. "Didn't I tell you last night that I didn't need anything else except the bare necessities?"

"Well, yeah, but I didn't order anything," Jorge answered. He picked up the box again, which seemed to be addressed for both of them. "No return address," he said. "You wanna take a look?"

Biff nodded, "Sure, why not?"

She produced some scissors from a drawer in the kitchen and proceeded to cut open the box. The first thing Jorge saw was a letter written in a familiar, choppy writing that he could recognize anywhere. But could it have been Him? As far as Jorge knew, he had been the only escapee from the twelfth-and-a-half dimension. Could He have made it through, too? He had already told his wife his secret, and so she'd known that their son would eventually begin to exhibit a power of his own, though Jorge would be able to limit it somewhat whenever he was around. The letter read:

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Van Stomm,  
I am a man of few words, and more of actions. However, since I cannot display any kind of actions on paper without feeling very odd about it, I will try to make this short, sweet, and to the point._

Within the package you most certainly have in front of you is a metallic pod that contains my son, Jarv. I don't need to go into specifics right now, but all you need to know is that the 12th dimension is doomed to be utterly destroyed, and I chose you all to raise him as your own. He is what I have decided to call a Protector, one who has the powers of invincibility when protecting others, but is as vulnerable as the next person when attacks are focused on him. He also is a minor telepath, along with having enhanced strength, so he is not completely defenseless.

My only request to you all is that you can allow him to go to one of the local boarding schools near Danville. This is not anything against you all, but I do not trust the public school system completely. At least keep him in private school until his first year of high school. Also, I'd ask that he be able to interact with some of the local children so that he at least has some friends when he finally does go into public high school.

Protect him as best you can, and allow him to have something his parents could never have: a good, long life. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Van Stomm.  
Sincerely,  
Xavier "Ferb" Fletcher and Ariel "Vanessa" Fletcher  
  
Jorge handed the letter to Biff as he pulled the pod out of the box, running his hand along its sides, merely admiring the craftsmanship of the creation. After locating the handle to the front, Jorge placed the pod on the ground and turned the handle, which opened the door with an ominous hiss. Jorge found himself staring into the emerald eyes of this Xavier Fletcher's son, Jarv. The young child did nothing in response to this sudden attention and light, but merely looked back at the man who would soon be his new father.

Jorge walked over to Buford, picking him back up out of the playpen. "Congratulations," he told his son, "You have a new brother."

~~~  
**βββ**

Tyler Sweetwater pulled into his driveway, his white lab coat swung over his shoulder and a brief case in his hand. He was glad he had finally been able to get out of the office and spend some time with his wife and new daughter. It had been a few months since he'd seen them here, at his new house in Danville. He had even gotten to get out early so he could surprise his wife. And he knew exactly where they were going for dinner tonight. He'd already made reservations for one of the fanciest restaurants in town, and he knew that the neighbors wouldn't mind taking care of his daughter, Adyson, for one night. This would be his first night back with his family since the birth of his daughter, and he wanted to make it memorable.

He stepped onto the porch to knock on the door until he saw the package that lay beside the door. He stooped and picked it up, examining it. It was addressed to his wife and himself, with no return address, and was quite heavy. He examined the handwriting on a piece of scrap paper, which seemed to look a bit familiar. He lifted the box under one of his burly arms and knocked on the front door.

His wife opened the door, Tyler's daughter, Adyson, cradled in one of her arms. When her eyes finally landed upon him, she let out a squeal of joy and rushed to embrace her husband, nearly crushing him. "Easy, there, Casey," he tried to keep on breathing.

His wife, Casey Sweetwater, finally pulled away and held him at arms-length, smiling, "You're home early."

Tyler let out a bark of laughter, "That I am. That I am," he procured the package he'd found at the door. "I'm guessing you ordered this?"

Casey eyed the package, "I didn't order anything. Maybe it's yours?"

Tyler shook his head, "I know this is definitely not mine." He ran his hands along the sides of the package. "It's addressed to the both of us. You think we should open it?"

Casey nodded, "Why not?"

Tyler nodded, sliding the letter opener he kept on a side table along the sides of the box, cutting through the packaging tape and exposing a slip of paper. Tyler pulled the paper out to see it was an envelope, again addressed to Casey and him. With the same letter opener, he opened the envelope and began to read the letter inside out loud:

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Sweetwater,_

I'll get straight to the point. This letter and anything else in this package is not from this dimension. It is from the 12th dimension, which is more than likely destroyed by the time you are reading this. Hopefully one of you two is another escapee from the twelfth-and-a-half dimension, and so they understand what these children can do. If not, then here's what happens: my daughter, who is inside the pod also inside this box, has a certain set of genes that seem to give her powers inside this dimension. She is a healer, can control weather, and can move the speed of light here. Try and keep her from using these powers too early, 'cause I don't want anyone experimenting on my Annabell. Oh, and that's her name, Annabell.

The only thing I ask of you two is that you can place her in one of Danville's local private schools until her freshman year of high school. I'd rather not be the person blamed for messing up any future time lines in this dimension.

Hopefully, you'll be able to take care of her. Thank you for doing this. You are the greatest in-laws any man could have. Good luck.  
Yours truly,  
Ortega "Buford" Van Stomm and Rebecca "Adyson" Van Stomm

Tyler read the last few sentences over and over again. So that's where he'd recognized the handwriting from! His neighbor down the street a few houses or so, Jorge Van Stomm, had the exact same handwriting. And, now that he thought of it, he did have a son named Buford. Was it possible that the two families would eventually be linked together through fate? He discarded the thought and rummaged through the box his fingers brushing up against smooth, polished metal. Plunging both hands into the box, he grasped the sides of the metallic object and pulled, lifting it out with little effort.

The smooth, egg-shaped pod was just large enough to hold a few loaves of bread, and its reflective surface showed off the room it was already in, even reflecting Tyler's face back at himself. He turned to his wife, "What do you think?" he asked.

Casey looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"Do you think we're ready to have this second daughter? I mean, I know we can afford to support her, but are you going to be able to deal with both of them?" Tyler asked.

"Don't you worry about me," she answered. "This does mean I'll have to devote more time to raising children, but I have absolutely no problem with raising two daughters instead of one."

Tyler nodded, and then turned the handle to open the pod, changing his life forever.

~~~  
**ƏƏƏ**

**13 years ago**

Vivian could hear the playful screams of her children as they ran around their home. From what she could gather, Luther and Isabella were having another "tickle fight", as she called it. They had both finally begun to speak, and when they talked to each other, they sounded very cute. So cute, that Vivian had to restrain herself from picking them both up and squeezing them tightly. Like now.

Luther had Isabella on the couch, tickling her as she tried to get away from him. She cried out with laughter as he tickled her stomach, and then pushed Luther back and began to tickle him even harder. Luther laughed his head off, tears forming in his eyes before he pushed his sister away, trying to catch his breath. Isabella, not getting the meaning, tried to tickle him again, but her two-year-old brother suddenly wasn't playing anymore. He shoved Isabella back, accidentally causing her to fall of the couch and scrape her knee. Isabella began to cry almost immediately after hitting the floor, more for attention than out of pain.

Vivian sighed as she walked into the living room to comfort her two children. That was the problem with these kids: they both, Luther especially, would go through violent mood swings when stressed even a little bit. Although Vivian did have to admit that Luther's responses were much worse. There had been a few times when Luther had almost used his powers out of his juvenile anger, and the only reason nothing had happened was that Vivian had been there and limited him right before he'd progressed into something much worse, though she knew she eventually wouldn't be able to do so, especially when he drew upon the power of his own dimension. If he'd channeled that kind of energy within these confined spaces, Vivian was sure that the house would explode due to such a high amount of energy that merely accessing the dimension emitted.

Luther walked up to her, an angry look on his face. "Go apologize to your sister," Vivian told him.

The boy shook his head. "No," he said in his young voice. "Isabewa was hutting me!"

Vivian looked at her son, "You will apologize to her. Now," she said sternly.

Luther, though young, already could see he was fighting a losing battle. "Ok," he answered, and walked over to Isabella, who was still crying. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she spun around and hugged him, not even knowing who it was, and began to cry again. "Isabewa," he got her to look at him.

"Yes, Lu-ter?" she asked, her eyes drilling into his own.

"I sowy," Luther told her, looking at his mother.

"Go on," Vivian told him, before adding, "and apologize to her, not me."

Luther sighed. "I didit mean to hut you," he continued, "You a-sept my apowogee?"

Isabella looked up at him and nodded, "Ov corse, Lu-ter." Then they went back to playing, this time a different game than before.

Vivian smiled. After Luther's first outburst, she had made sure that they had both learned to forgive each other. She did not want them to grow up not liking each other, even if Luther wasn't connected by blood. He was still her son, and that would never change. She smiled and went back into the kitchen, getting ready to prepare her children lunch, making a note to save the image of Luther and Isabella hugging each other in the back of her mind. That moment had just been too perfect.

It had been two years since He'd left her. Two years since she'd finally revealed her secret to anyone else. Two, long, hard years that had left Linda Flynn in a state of diminished depression. A freak. A traitor. A backstabber. A liar. She'd been called worse, but not from her former husband, the only person she'd ever trusted enough to tell that she wasn't from this dimension, but from a destroyed twelfth-and-a-half dimension, where the gene sequences some of them held granted them special abilities in this dimension. That she knew her children still had potential to have some kind of powers. And that she herself had powers of her own, namely being able to limit another's power, along with the ability to look across the timeline and see a hazy future.

But all that changed when she met him. When she met a certain Lawrence Fletcher. She had been sent out of her dimension when she was thirteen, and she'd remembered many of her friends there, especially her old boyfriend, Lawrence Fletcher. She had assumed he'd perished in the explosion that had ripped the twelfth-and-a-half dimension apart, and had mourned him before forcing herself to get over him and move on. That's when she'd met Him, her ex, who had taken her heart and ripped it in half when she had trusted Him enough to tell him her secret. It seemed that Lawrence had had the same thing done to him when he'd entered the dimension in England, marrying and also having a child before his secret also caused his spouse to leave him. They had both at first just stared at each other before realizing that it was actually their other half, and then Lawrence, who had always been perceptive, saw the pain in her eyes, and brought her into a hug that she'd realized she'd been longing for ever since she'd come to this dimension. That had been the start of another beginning, one much better than before.

She shook her head as she looked back at her new husband, who she had to admit looked quite adorable in his suit. He was sitting at a table that had a total of three seats and two high-chairs around it, four of the seats at said table being occupied. Linda glided over the ballroom floor in her dress, acknowledging the guests she passed as she passed by, nodding and saying her 'thank you's and the like to their comments of congratulations. After perhaps half a minute of scooting around the packed ballroom, her gliding replaced with a bit of an awkward step, Linda finally reached and then sat down at the table her new family sat at.

To her immediate left was the high-chair that held her baby boy, Phineas. His mop of red hair was trimmed neatly so that it spiked just a little bit, but more so in the front. Linda still had absolutely no idea where Phineas had gotten his abnormally large nose from, since she knew it had been neither side of the family that had any kind of relative, living or dead, who had had that large a nose. She just hoped it wouldn't give any future bullies too much to make fun of her son for. Next to Phineas, in a normal chair, sat her six-year-old daughter, Candace, who wore a red dress with little white dress shoes, only amplifying her "cuteness factor", as the adults playfully called it. Candace, who was four years Phineas' senior, had grown up quite a bit since her father left. It had been unfortunate, but four years of her life had been spent watching her mother slide into a deeper and deeper state of depression, not so much from the divorce, but from the words he had said. Though Candace hardly knew her biological father, she hated him, and had said as much to her mother about him. When she'd been admonished by her mother about how it was bad to hate someone without a reason, Candace had merely stated this reason, surprising her mother more than anything else. Linda could tell that Candace would make a great leader, though she hadn't really exhibited any of her powers yet. Perhaps the fact that she'd been beside her mother all the time had kept her from displaying them at all. Linda had no idea, but wasn't all that interested to find out just yet. She liked being normal. It was that one thing that felt very good to her, not having to worry about what would happen if anyone found out her secret. However, she didn't have to hide it here. Everyone knew of the twelfth-and-a-half dimension and the powers it granted those who came to the first dimension from it.

To her immediate right, Lawrence Fletcher sat, eyeing his food like it was a tiny bit undercooked. With a shrug of his shoulders, he discarded the fact and dug into the steak in front of him, getting just a little bit of it on his clothing. He didn't even notice it until he saw Linda looking at him.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly as he took the napkin and wiped the bit off his shirt. It may have left a stain, but the black cloth showed nothing, no matter if it did or didn't leave any discoloration. Linda merely laughed.

"Honey," she told him, "You forgot to light the candles." She pointed to the stand that sat in the center of the table, and he too laughed

"If that's what you want, love, I shall do it right now," he answered, snapping his fingers. As soon as the sound had been heard, the wicks of the candles lit up, and a steady flame began to burn on each of the waxen rods.

Linda smiled and then turned her attention to the final member of the table, Lawrence's son, Ferb. His name had been something else before, but no one had bothered to call him that, since when he first tried to say the word "fern" it had come out "ferb". Both Lawrence and his ex had found this so cute that they hadn't bothered to call him by his name anymore, just "Ferb". The boy, oddly enough, had green hair, which made him stand out in a crowd. Another interesting quality was that he was very quiet, saying nothing unless he wanted to add something to the conversation. It seemed as though Ferb had been gifted with knowledge well beyond his years, after all, she didn't expect some adults, much less a two year old, to be able to hold their tongue as well as Ferb. More than likely it had something to do with the fact that Lawrence was not from this universe.

Her attention was drawn back to the present as the younger of the two boys, Phineas, began to try and build a tower with his mashed potatoes rather than eat it. After multiple attempts of trying to get the tower to stand by itself, Phineas watched it fall over again and must have gotten quite unhappy with it, since he decided to use his powers. Before anyone understood what he was doing, the mashed potatoes began to float up into the air and then, with Phineas in a two-year-old tantrum, the mashed potatoes flew in all different directions, half of it splattering right behind Linda as she cocked her head to the side, allowing the blob to hit a guest in the back of his head, who happened to be her father. Her father, Clyde, whipped around, wiping the potato from the back of his head, and examining it before eying his daughter. She tried to restrain a giggle that threatened to bubble up from her as she saw her father flash a mischievous smile and scraped some of his mashed potatoes off his own plate.

"Oh, please no..." she half-whispered as she watched as an enraged Phineas sent the other half of his potatoes the opposite way, hitting Lawrence's father almost right in the forehead, nearly knocking him out of the chair. The old Brit wiped the creamy substance off his face, glancing over to the table to see Linda's father holding some of his own mashed potatoes.

"Is that 'ow you want to play, Flynn?" the man who had used to be the Flying Fishmonger asked Linda's father, Clyde. The entire ballroom had gone quiet, waiting to see what would happen between the two patriarchs of each family.

"What?" Clyde started. Then he saw that he was still holding the potatoes. "Oh, this? No, it's not what it looks li-" he was cut off as he was hit in the chest with another glob of potatoes.

"Just let it go," Linda whispered, knowing that she was asking the impossible of her father, who watched as her father-in-law sat down, smiling smugly.

She knew what was about to happen thanks to her gift just as her father shouted, "Flynns! To arms!" Half the room stood up out of their chairs, comic smiles on every single face. Mr. Fletcher paled as he saw the resistance that had formed against him in reaction to his actions. He had almost gotten up to protest when Clyde roared, "FIRST RANK, FIRE!" And a wave of mashed potatoes flew across the room, hitting many members of the Fletcher family as they dove to avoid the projectiles. Mr. Fletcher in particular was hit with the wave, as Clyde and five others focused on him.

Even as Clyde began to laugh heartily, Mr. Fletcher got back up and silently motioned for his side to prepare for their return volley. Clyde, too late, was alerted to this as his son-in-law's father shouted to his own family, "RIGHT THEN BOYS! RETURN FIRE!"

There were squeals of laughter and deep fits of that same thing as the two families exchanged fire with what should have been their dinner, finally able to enjoy the wedding since it was technically over. Linda was just about to get up and stop this fight once and for all before she felt something about to happen. She turned around just as a glob of potatoes hit her smack in the face. She wiped it out of her eyes just in time to see Lawrence grinning like an idiot. Linda smirked at him before deciding to return the favor, which resulted in a large, wet slapping sound.

Lawrence merely smiled at this before he lost it and burst into a fit of laughter, eventually laughing so hard that he was crying. Between gasps, he told Linda, "Best.. Wedding... Ever."

Linda smiled, allowing herself to remove the formal mask that many brides had to wear during their weddings. Though she'd never heard of a wedding reception spontaneously turning into a food fight. She got the children to her mother, who ushered them out of the ballroom and got ready to take them home while they waited for their parents. When she did get back, she could see that the scale of the food fight had only intensified, since many of the guests had run out of potatoes to throw at each other. It should have ended a while ago, but Linda could see that almost all the employees were either in shock or were pointing and laughing very, very hard. When she finally reached the table she and her husband had been sitting, it was a complete mess, with the hotel's manager covered in food and sauces while talking angrily with her husband.

After a few clipped sentences, Lawrence stood up, motioning for the improper flow of food to stop. "We've got someone here who'd like to say something," he stated, letting the manager stand up. Everyone gasped, since they knew they had done wrong and were now caught.

But before the manager had a chance to say anything, Linda scooped up a handful of potatoes in one hand and then shouted, "Flynns! Fletchers! OPEN FIRE!" Causing the entire room to hurl whatever they could find at the hotel manager.

They had been banned from the hotel. Not that it had surprised them. After what had just happened, Linda would have thought the manager crazy not to ban them. But it had been too much fun to pass up. As of now, Linda and Lawrence were just getting home, pulling in to the driveway of their new suburban home, laughing and talking.

They walked into the house, still laughing and talking, until they closed the door and could be seen no more. From there, they headed up the stairs into their bedroom, and drifted to sleep, both feeling that this had officially been the best day ever.

The navigator pulled his eyes away from the X-ray night vision camera, looking up at the other occupants in the cramped space. With a curt nod to the commander, he placed a headset over his head, communicating with the others. It seemed that the others had been just as successful in locating their targets, which would help later on when those new recruits joined up.

He gave a thumbs-up to his commander, signaling that everything checked out alright. His commander looked up from one of the files he had received from their chief Intel agent, the edge reading: "P. Flynn", and nodded. A picture of a young, triangular-headed child with red hair hung from a paper clip on the file, taken quite recently, more than likely within the last week. The commander placed it down beside a few other folders which the navigator could read quite clearly. Each target's name was written in neon green ink, so that the occupants could see it inside the midnight-black interior of their workspace. Another two folders read: "I. G-Shapiro" and "L. G-Shapiro (Fake)". The navigator remembered someone talking of people who had come from another world and had adopted the surnames of some of the families they lived with. Apparently, this "L." was one of them.

The navigator cleared his thoughts. That was not his job to look at the conspiracies. His job was to locate the targets, confirm them, either make sure they were tracked or killed, then return to base. He radioed the pilot that they were clear, and with that, the whisper-engines of their helicopter took off, its black exterior allowing it to melt into the night. It was joined by two other helicopters of the same make and on the same mission, merely different targets. Their comms technician told the crew that the other two teams had accomplished their missions. Half of Maple Drive was under surveillance, and they were ready to deal with anything that came up from the select few families: The Flynn-Fletchers, the Garcia-Shapiros, the Van Stomms, the Sweetwaters, and the Rais. They would fall. The navigator was sure of it.

**A/N: And there's the first chapter! I hoped you guys liked it, cause this story has been in the works since late December, and now it's finally out! It took a while, but now everything's there, and I'll leave it to you guys to rip into it as you see fit. (But I don't think it's **_**that**_** bad.) Now, if that's all, I'll just be going- oh, that's right. My beta-reader.**

**You guys should be happy we teamed up when we did. If it wasn't for her, this story wouldn't be as amazing as I'm planning it to be. So, give it up for… LANCELOT VARIANTER!**

**(Crowd cheers) Whoa! I never let you guys in!**

**Lancelot: Oh, heh. That was me.**

**Ham.**

**Lancelot: I prefer the term, "awesome person."**

**If you think so. But whatever. I can argue with you anytime. I believe you had something to say to the readers?**

**Lancelot: Yes. And now for my own section of the A/N: Lancelot's after-chapter comments! (Crowd cheers again)**

**Lancelot's after-chapter comments****: I hope you enjoy the story! Any mistakes fall squarely on my shoulders at this point in time.**

**But between you guys and me, she pretty much cleaned up the chapter. I ran it through spell check once it was on Word, and there were very few errors we both missed. Plus, there were some parts that were pretty much inspired by her questions of my plotline and stuff like that. So she deserves all the cheering she's getting. **

**Ah, and one more thing I didn't mention before: until further notice, the 6****th**** dimension and all associated characters belong to DasSchnabeltier, who also deserves his own shoutout. So another thank you, this time to DasSchnabeltier. **

**Finally, R&R if you guys want to and/or can, and stay tuned for updates on the story.**

**Also, a seriously belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of the authors on the archive. I know that I got onto Cp's A/N with it, but I just feel the need to say it here, too. And while I'm at it, since I won't be able to say it again, an early Happy Valentine's Day to you guys!**

**Seeing as their new season has probably aired now, long live Phineas and Ferb! **

**Later, guys.**

**-the high lord of terra (although now it's mostly Terra, so I'll probably just do that next chapter.)**

**PS- Before I forget, a shoutout to Maya Serena for guessing who 'She' is in my other story, "Omega Squad". Good job, my friend! Which brings me to another point: Omega's going to be on hiatus for a while. Sorry to whoever likes it.**

**PPS- Also, NCIAGC is suffering to a terminal illness. Marysueitis. It has been discontinued, but I'm keeping it up for historical purposes. Very sorry guys, but that story's pretty much damaged beyond repair. It will not be progressing for a very long time, if I even think about touching it again. **

**Later guys!**


	2. Meet the Family

**I'm back! And you guys thought I wouldn't make it to post a chapter this month? You're wrong! Heh, I joke. As of now, anyone who can spot a shoutout will get a point. Why? Because I want you guys to see what you can find! Shoutouts can be repeated, but it's first come, first serve here. If someone finds a particularly well-placed shoutout, intentional or not, I'll award you 2 points. Good luck, and be imaginative, guys!**

**Before I go any farther, let me just say this is the first part of the second chapter. I will try and post the second part soon, but… 17k words'll turn some people off in the story. Either way, this one's long enough, so I'll let you guys go ahead and read.**

"**Ω Ω" is the separator. Hopefully it'll show up, but if you only see one, you know what it means…**

**Disclaimer: READ THE FIRST CHAP! THIS APPLIES FOR THE ENTIRE STORY!**

**Chapter 1: Meet the Family**

3 years ago

The Sweetwater household had matured as its occupants had also done so. Adyson was out of the house more often than not, which was to be expected since her Fireside Girls Troop was always doing so much, with both their usual meetings and their now-usual help with Phineas and Ferb's daily projects, which always kept getting better and better. The fact that her troop leader, Isabella, was now trying even harder to get Phineas to notice her meant that, more often than not, she would take her troop with her over to the Flynn-Fletcher home, even if it was just to get a grunt job that involved multiple hours of menial labor. However, unlike most of the girls in her troop, Adyson relished the chance to do these things, since in meant actually getting her hands dirty, something the many preppy girls in her troop hated doing.

Plus, it gave her some quality time to spend with Buford, who was usually shoved into the background by both of the young inventors and her fearless leader, who also happened to be both Adyson's best friend and the boys' best assistant. Unlike the others, who saw Buford as a senseless wall of meat, Adyson could see through the hardened exterior he always displayed. Beneath his façade of the neighborhood bully, Buford really had a soft spot inside himself, but it was hardly ever allowed to come out in front of others, where he'd seem weak and, she was just guessing at this, girly. He had already blatantly stated that he thought girls were icky and whatnot, but Adyson knew him well enough to know that he considered her more one of the guys than any of the other girls, including Isabella, who had the same boyish attitude but the "girly traits" that she figured the young Van Stomm found "icky". However, she acted more a boy than a girl most of the time she was interacting with others, whether it was the boys or her troop. Recently, Adyson had flirted with him just barely, not actually letting him know that's what she was doing, rather merely joking around with him that made it actually quite fun for her to see how he reacted. And, luckily for her, he was about as oblivious to her as Phineas was to Isabella, else he would have refused to even look at her if he'd known she liked him like that.

As of now, she was busying herself by building yet another stage for whatever project the two child geniuses had today. More importantly, she was building beside Buford and the rest of her troop, but everything else seemed to just fall away from the world when she was next to him. It may have sounded odd to her other troop members, even to Isabella and the boys, but she changed whenever she was around him. And no one was really sure whether it was for better or for worse. Instead of the calmer, more peaceful Adyson that her parents and sister knew, Adyson was more eager, a bit impatient, playfully sarcastic, and sometimes hot-tempered, but either way, everyone still liked being around her. As it was with Phineas and Isabella, everyone except Buford knew that Adyson had a crush on the neighborhood bully.

She woke up from her inner thoughts when her friend, Gretchen, snapped her fingers in front of Adyson's face. "Huh?" she looked down at her diminutive friend. "What is it, Gretch?"

Gretchen winced, "Adyson, don't call me that," she sighed. "We've been over this before. I don't need a nickname. So. Don't. Start."

Adyson nodded, "Okay, Gretch," Gretchen lowered the glasses farther down on her nose, eyeing her fellow troop member, "Kidding, kidding," Adyson held up her hands. "What is it?"

Gretchen held up Adyson's cell, which she'd put away so as not to mess it up while she was building, "Your mom called. Told me to tell you that you need to go home."

Adyson took the phone from her friend's hand, "Any idea why?"

Gretchen shook her head, "Nope."

Adyson was surprised. Usually her mother always had a reason for doing something. Luckily for her daughter, she was not the kind of mother who usually said, 'You'll do it because I said so'. Surprises were few and far between at her house, and the most recent had been a coming-home party for her father, who was just getting back from some country in Europe, she'd already forgotten which, and that had been about a week ago, so it was safe to assume that whatever was going on was not intended as any kind of surprise. She waved goodbye to all those who were in the backyard, and then turned to go before hearing something else.

"BUFORD!" a gruff voice shouted from down the street. "GET OVER HERE PRONTO!"

"COMING!" Buford answered just as loud, deafening many of those around him. Adyson just chuckled as he came towards the gate, where she stood.

"Something wrong with cell phones?" she asked playfully, punching him in the upper arm. It had been a customary greeting for as long as she could remember.

As they left, she could see Isabella begin a long trudge across the street, obviously unhappy that she had been pulled away from her friends, especially her Phineas. For what, she had no idea.

She kept on walking with Buford, talking about nothing. Whenever she'd drift into something deemed 'girly' by her companion, he merely listened, not saying a word until she understood the cause of the silence. Finally, she arrived at her house. "Well?" she looked back at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You wanna guess what my mom's got for me inside?" she brushed some hair out of her face. She had always scoffed at girls who got worked up over a boy they liked, but now she found herself in the same position._ Hypocrite_, she thought to herself.

"No idea," was his final answer, "how 'bout you?"

"Hm?"

"Whaddaya think is in _my_ house?" he asked, his eyes drilling into her, making her feel self-conscious.

"Ditto."

By now, she was on her porch, he still beside her. She smirked, "Well why don't you go find out?" That released a soft chuckle from his mouth, along with the accompanying smirk to match her own.

"I plan on it," he responded, turning and walking away, "see ya tomorrow."

"See ya," she whispered, before turning back to her front door and opening it. "Hey mom, I'm home!" she called into the living room, closing the door behind her. She peeked into the living room, and saw two figures sitting on the couch, one much smaller than the other, who was obviously her mother. "Mom?" she asked, causing her mother to turn around and look at her. "Why did you want me to come home?"

The other figure turned around, her face finally revealing itself to Adyson, who squealed with joy when she saw it. "Annabell!"

She rushed up to her sister, who had been with her as long as she could remember. The embrace was tight and held for a long time before Annabell was finally released, and then held at arms-length. "You're not supposed to be back until later this summer!"

Annabell flashed a smile, "Something wrong with me here? 'Cause I'm sure I can just go now..."

Adyson, as was the usual whenever she was around her sister, overreacted, "No! That's not what I meant!"

Annabell laughed, "I know, sis. I was just kidding around."

Adyson smiled, "Come on," she motioned upstairs, "we've got a lot to talk about."

**Ω Ω**

"So you're saying that these two twelve-year-olds... build stuff like this every day?" Annabell was looking through a personal log of Phineas and Ferb's projects.

"Well, yes and no," her sister replied, having changed out of her Fireside Girl uniform into an electric blue t-shirt, the winged Aerosmith logo upon the front of her left shoulder, and black jean capris. "You see, they build stuff _like _this, but never anything exactly like this. They always come up with something new each day. They make it a point to do so."

She showed Annabell a few other pictures, one of the entire gang together, many boy-girl pairs together expressing their friendship to each other. There were Phineas and Isabella, Isabella with her arms around Phineas' shoulders and his arms wrapped around her waist. She had that dreamy look on her face mixed with a look of pure happiness that Phineas always radiated. "Quite the couple, no?" Annabell commented.

"Hopefully soon," Adyson answered. "He doesn't even know that Isabella likes him yet. She's ready to confess to him, but we all keep on telling her to wait for him. After all, he is only twelve, just like the rest of us. As it turns out, Isabella might be the fastest-maturing out of all of us. She is still as innocent as can be, but is definitely able to focus on more mature topics, like love."

Annabell nodded, "Then I assume they aren't going out?" she asked, pointing to a picture of Django and Milly together. In the few times Adyson had ever seen Django, he looked seriously happy in this picture.

"No," she answered, "but I'm sure this one can be arranged if I get a favorable answer out of Milly." She went to another picture of Baljeet and Ginger, "This is about as close to a couple as we've got right now." Annabell gave her a questioning look. "Oh, you don't know either of them. Well, that's Baljeet, and that's Ginger," she pointed them out to her sister.

"Oooo, what do we have here?" Annabell pointed at the picture of Adyson and Buford, which Adyson had put a small, barely noticeable, red heart in the upper-right corner.

Adyson blushed deeply, "Oh that? That's me and Buford," she almost drifted off into her own little dreamland when Annabell looked at her funny. "What?"

Annabell snickered, "Well, first of all, I can tell right now that you like him," she didn't even give her sister time to respond, "Second, I think I've heard that name before from one of my good friends at boarding school. What's his last name?"

"Van Stomm," Adyson answered without hesitation. Annabell's eyes widened, "What is it, Anna?" her sister asked.

"That's surprising..." she said, "Your Buford's brother is one of my best friends at school."

Adyson had a look of understanding on her face, "So that's why he got called home too," she stated to no one in particular.

"He's here?" she asked. Adyson shrugged. "Well, you at least know where he lives, right?" A nod from her sister. She grabbed Adyson's hand, "Well come on! I'll bet he'll be surprised to see me here." And with that, she dragged her sister out of the house, and down the street towards the Van Stomm household, Adyson not protesting one bit.

**Ω Ω**

Isabella trudged into the house, her head hung a little bit since she'd been called away from the boys' big project today. Due to her absence and that of Buford and Adyson, Phineas had decided to postpone the project until further notice, opting to wait until there was full attendance before progressing. As it was, Isabella had been sure that today was the day, the day when Phineas finally snapped out of being so oblivious and notice the many, many hints she had been dropping the past few years. _Don't kid yourself, girl,_ she thought. _You go through this routine every single day. _And she knew it. She could give up hope so very easily, but then what would happen to her? She would be even farther from where she'd started, in an even worse position than she was now. No, though he didn't love her now, loving Phineas was one of the main things that kept Isabella sane.

She could quickly tell that there was something different in the house as soon as she stepped over the threshold. There was a certain, sweaty smell that she had always attributed to her mother baking, which she always did in the winter. There was only one time that her mother _ever_ baked anything during the summer, and that could only mean one thing.

She began to climb up the stairs, her heart rattling her ribcage as she got closer to the only soundproof door in the house, a faint buzzing noise coming from behind it. Another noise, that of a slightly deep masculine voice, also emanated from behind that same door. Nearby, Isabella's mother stood beside the door, two pairs of earplugs held in her hands. One of them was offered to her, but Isabella declined. As far as she knew, it wasn't the loudest thing ever, since she'd been around enough heavy machinery to acclimate her ears to whatever was going on in that room. After motioning to her mother for her to put her own earplugs in, she took the doorknob in one hand, slowly turning it until it would turn no more. Then, with a swift motion, she opened the door, stepped in, and shut it just as quickly so as to not let too much sound out of the room.

Almost as soon as she entered the room, she was surrounded by a monstrous crowd, all jumping up and down to the beat of the music. An older man with purple-lensed glasses stood up on a stage, a bassist playing only a few notes at the end of the song she'd just entered. As she looked around at the crowd, she realized that this was a gigantic concert. The drummer started beating the drums as the final notes resonated through the crowded stadium. And finally, the guitarist stood ready, his face much, much younger than everyone else on stage. Then the music stopped, and the singer stepped up to the microphone and began to sing as the crowd cheered very, very loudly.

_AAAAAALLLLLLLL ABOAAARRRRDDD! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_

And then the cymbals were hit multiple times before the guitarist started to jam out.

_AY AY AY AY AY AY!_

The guitarist then took over, playing an impromptu solo, with the singer cheering him on.

_I CAN'T HEAR YOU!_

The crowd began to chant "ay ay ay ay", even as the guitar kept going.

_COME ON!_

Isabella decided to start heading towards the stage. She didn't mind the song, but she was still so excited to get to the guitarist that she didn't want to wait for the song to end before getting to him. Then the singer began to sing again.

_AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY!_

_(AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY!)_

_AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY!_

_(AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY!)_

_Crazy, but that's how it goes._

_Millions of people, living as foes._

_Maybe, yea yea, it's not too late._

_To learn how to love,_

_And forget how to ha-ea-eate!_

_Mental wounds not healing,_

_life's a bitter shame,_

_I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!_

_I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!_

_COME ON!_

_I've listened to preachers,_

_I've listened to fools,_

_I've watched all the dropouts,_

_Who make their own rules._

_One person conditioned,_

_To rule and control._

_The media sells it,_

_And you live the role._

_Mental wounds still screaming, _  
_Driving me insane,__  
__I'm going off the rails on a crazy train! __  
__I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!_

_I know that things are going wrong for me. __  
__You gotta listen to my words,__  
__Yeah _

And then the guitarist, who was on par with Phineas in Isabella's mind, clenched the guitar and began to rip into it, a monstrous streak of notes coming out of the amp it was hooked up to. It was amazing, better than the actual song itself, which the program shouldn't have allowed, but the guitarist ignored that fact and just kept on playing. As Isabella pushed her way through the crowd, she half-expected his fingers to be bleeding from the sheer amount of notes he was playing. Then the singer shouted:

_Heirs of a cold war ,__  
__That's what we've become.__  
__Inheriting troubles,_

_I'm mentally numb .__  
__Crazy,_

_I just can not bare, __  
__I'm living with something that just isn't fair.___

_Mental wounds not healing, __  
__Who and what's to blame,__  
__I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!__  
__I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!_

_ALRIGHT, LET'S GIVE YOU ALL SOME TIME TO GO CRAZY!_

And then the guitarist kept on going, starting part of his solo at the beginning, but this time without the singer covering up the performance. By now, the guitarist's head bobbed up and down, his eyesight probably so blurred that he couldn't see anything at all, not that it stopped him from playing. Isabella had already assumed that he knew this by heart, and didn't need to see anything, and this confirmed her suspicions. She kept on pushing through the crowd, finding it tougher to do so as she got closer to the stage. Eventually, she was stopped by a large man, who looked to be twice her height.

"What do you think you're doing, Missie?" he asked, his burly voice nearly showing his anger. "No one's allowed up on that stage except relatives."

Isabella pointed at the guitarist, "I'm his sister!"

The man looked back and forth between the two, finally realizing that she was right, "Oh, sorry miss. Most humble apologies. You won't tell him about this, will you?" He motioned at the singer.

Isabella grinned evilly, "Not yet," which cause the giant before her to fall on his knees.

"Please don't Ms. Garcia-Shapiro!"

Isabella raised an eyebrow, "Fine." She pushed the bouncer out of the way just as she heard the singer start up again:

_AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY!_

_(AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY!)_

_AY AY AY AY AY AY AY AY!_

Isabella waited in the wings as the guitarist finished his part, letting out a piercing wail from his guitar as he strained it to the limit, single notes barely able to be told apart from each other. She stepped out of the wings and laid a hand on the guitarist's shoulder, causing him to spin around, and the entire concert fell away, the singer finally saying: "Good night Budokan!"

The boy put the guitar down on one of the tables in the room so that he could receive a crushing hug from his sister, "You're finally back, Luther!"

"And why wouldn't I be?" Luther answered, hugging her just as tightly back. "I've always wanted to spend time with you, Isabella. It was just those stupid classes that kept me in so long."

"Not summer school again!"

"What can I tell you? I'm just not that good at catching up when I get pushed out of school for a week or so."

"A week? What did you do?"

"Easy there! _I _didn't do anything! They always blame me when something gets set on fire, or explodes, or floods, or messes up in some way. And not just the students either. I've had teachers straight up see me at the other end of a hallway and something happens right next to them and they blame me for it! Almost everything they think I'm doing isn't me. I've missed at least three months of school due to some idiot blaming me for something and-"

"Stop for a second. What do you mean,_ almost_ anything?" she asked, emphasizing the single word.

"Ok, so I did break that kid's nose, but he had it coming. Stupid, pompous, little-"

"When are you going to learn to control your anger?" she asked soothingly, both pulling out of the hug as he sat down on his bed, which had appeared when the concert had melted away.

Luther smirked, "I seem to be just fine when you're around."

"Well then how did you get kicked out of South Danville Elementary School?" she asked playfully, knowing full well why.

"Since you weren't there," Luther trailed off, knowing she was toying with him. "It was a long time ago, in a school far, far away..."

Isabella playfully punched him in the shoulder, "I know what happened, silly. And speaking of school, when are we gonna be able to go back to the same school again?"

Luther held up some fingers, "Just about two years or so. I'm sure you can wait that long."

Isabella nodded, "I've had to wait longer than that for other things."

Luther's eyes darkened, "He still hasn't noticed you?"

Isabella shook her head, "Not yet. But it'll be soon, I'm sure of it."

Luther slammed one hand, a fist, into the other, an open hand, "You better hope so, for his sake."

"I won't let you hurt him, Luther. Remember that anger control you said you had?"

"Hmph. I'll give him until halfway through high school, then I get my turn."

"Sophomore year sounds... fair, I guess."

Luther lightly punched her in the shoulder, making sure it wouldn't hurt his sister, "Don't worry, Isabella. I'm sure he'll see it. Eventually."

She smiled again before looking around the room, "You did this?" she asked. This was on caliber with the stuff that Phineas and Ferb made.

Luther picked up a futuristic-looking helmet. "A virtual reality machine that can do whatever you want it to do. I can go back in time, anywhere on the planet, and what is officially the most fun feature is the fact that I can insert any video game into this program and be right there. As you can see," he held up a game case, "that was a part from Guitar Hero."

Isabella was just amazed. She expected stuff like this in the house across the street, not in anyone else's house, much less her own house. "How did you-"

Luther smirked, causing her to stop what she was saying. He stood up, placing the helmet a side table that Isabella saw had been carved completely out of granite, "Why don't you," he finally said, "take me over there, and after the introductions are made, Phineas can explain it to you? I'm sure he could actually do a much better job at explaining it than I could."

Isabella smiled, knowing the real reason for her brother wanting to go back, but she complied all the same, as it meant being able to go back across the street, "Well, then," she said, "What are we waiting for?" And with that, she took Luther's hand and pulled him out of the room.

Before Luther was out his bedroom door, he called to his mom, "Don't touch that helmet until I can show you how to work it!"

Vivian smirked as Isabella nearly dragged him across the street, almost making Luther trip on the curb and land face-first in the Flynn-Fletchers' backyard. _This ought to be... interesting_, she thought before turning away from the window she'd been watching from and setting back to work in the kitchen.

**Ω Ω**

Adyson and Annabell reached the Van Stomm household in no time, Adyson guiding her sister to the correct address, rather than the one Annabell had believed to be the house. Had they gone to Annabell's choice, they would have been knocking on the door of Old Man Wilkins, who Adyson didn't want to talk to him right now.

Adyson allowed her sister to tentatively knock on the door, just loud enough for anyone inside to hear. There was a quiet shuffling behind the wooden door before it was thrown open by a large woman.

She looked at the two before snarling, "Whatever ya selling I ain't buying."

Annabell looked at her sister, who spoke up, saying, "Mrs. Van Stomm? It's me, Adyson."

The woman, Mrs. Van Stomm, raised an eyebrow before realizing she was looking at Adyson for the first time not in her Fireside Girls uniform, "Oh, Adyson! I'm sorry, it's just that stupid door-to-door salesman keeps on trying to get me to buy things I don't want. Won't you come in?"

Adyson took her sister's hand, leading her in. "Of course, Mrs. Van Stomm," she answered before adding, "This is my sister, Annabell."

Mrs. Van Stomm offered a hand to Annabell, who shook it. "Nice to meet you, Annabell," she said, before adding, "Though your name does sound familiar. Hm. Maybe Buford'll remember it." Mrs. Van Stomm turned to yell up the stairs, but Annabell stopped her.

"Er... Mrs. Van Stomm, is Jarv here?" Annabell asked tentatively. Mrs. Van Stomm gave her a quizzical look. "I go to the same school as he does," Annabell explained herself a little more, "We're actually quite good friends."

Mrs. Van Stomm smiled, "So that's who I remember hearing your name from. Come on, they're upstairs."

Adyson and Annabell began to climb up the stairs, hoping to surprise the two boys or even eavesdrop on a conversation they might be having. As they neared the top of the stairs, they heard a gruff voice that sounded quite deep for his age rambling on about something. Annabell mouthed, "Buford?" to Adyson, and she nodded. Then, nearly right after the first voice, which was identified to be Buford's, there came a slightly higher voice. She mouthed "Jarv?" to Annabell, who also nodded. Finally, they were able to make out some of the words being said in the conversation.

"...I like her, but I'm not sure if she likes me," Buford could be heard saying.

"Didn't you say she was your best friend?" Jarv asked.

"Well, yeah... but I'm trying not to think about her like that. I'd rather save that for when I'm older, ya know?" Buford replied, and Adyson automatically knew who he was talking about: her.

"Hey, don't worry, bro. I'm sure you'll figure something out," Jarv answered before Adyson knew they'd heard enough. She stepped forward and knocked on the closed door, which, from the sound that came from behind the door that sounded like someone jumping and hitting their head on something, apparently surprised the boys.

"Who is it?" Buford called through the door, sounding a bit annoyed.

Adyson smiled playfully and then put herself very close to the door, silently testing the doorknob. It wasn't locked. "Guess," she replied, knowing that Buford would probably be freaked out of his wits to have her here, along with the possibility that she had heard the recent exchange.

The door opened, and Buford stuck his head out, and upon seeing Adyson, his face turned a bright shade of red. "Oh... Hey Adyson. What are you doing here?"

Adyson decided to use Annabell's method, "What, you don't want me here?" she asked, enjoying herself as she watched his face get even darker red and almost apologetic.

"No! It's not that, it's just-"

Adyson broke out into a huge smile, "No need to apologize, Buford. I was just messing with you."

Buford cracked a smile and Adyson could almost feel his anxiety and embarrassment go away as his face returned to its original shade. "Who's idea was it to come here, then?"

Adyson pulled Buford closer before whispering in his ear, "My sister knows your brother very well, and she wanted to surprise him when she learned he lived so close."

Buford nodded with understanding. "I see. Well then, you want to meet him?"

Adyson giggled. "But of course," she answered in an obviously fake French accent.

Buford snickered before motioning for Adyson and Annabell to follow him into the room, which turned out to be a large bonus room. Jarv had his back turned to them, his dark brown hair also cut high and tight, almost identical to Buford's own hairdo. Of course, he was a bit different from his brother, such as the way he dressed, which was camo cargo shorts instead of the brown ones Buford wore, along with a silver athletic shirt that was almost the complete opposite of what his brother wore. In addition to a different wardrobe, Jarv was also much thinner than his brother, though he still had a large amount of muscle on his body, perhaps not as much as Buford, but enough to intimidate most people into submission, and he was taller than the neighborhood bully. However, none of these things stopped Adyson from seeing a lot of Ferb in Jarv, which made absolutely no sense. She already knew that Ferb and Jarv were nowhere near being related. Her thought began to drift as she took in more of his features, until Annabell ran past her and tackled Jarv without warning.

Jarv, somehow, knew what was about to happen seconds before it happened, and was able to half turn towards Annabell before he was thrown to the ground with a giddy Annabell on top of him. It took them both a few seconds to realize how awkward the position both felt and looked, and so Annabell got off her friend, who was still amazed that she was here.

"Anna?" Jarv asked before she nodded. Without warning, he embraced her tightly. "How did you get here? I thought you lived across town!"

Annabell laughed, "You're lucky that my sister led the way to your house," she answered, jerking a thumb over her shoulder in Adyson's general direction. "If it'd been up to me to find your house, I would've walked right into Old Man Wilkins' yard."

Jarv smiled. "Good thing you didn't then, right?" He turned to Adyson and held out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Adyson," he stated as Adyson shook it, "Buford's told me a lot about you."

Adyson turned to Buford, playfully looking him in the eye. "Oh, he has now has he?" she smirked at him, "I would hope that it was mostly good."

Jarv chuckled, "Don't worry, it was." He turned back to his brother, "So Buford, who is this "Dinner Bell" you were talking about? And why would his parents name him Dinner?"

Adyson answered for Buford, "Dinner Bell is just what Buford calls him. His name is Phineas."

Jarv stared at Buford before bursting out with laughter, "Oh, that's good, Buford. Dinner Bell! Where do you even come up with this stuff?"

Buford smiled back, "I'll never tell."

Jarv just brushed him off. "Well, are we just going to sit around and gossip or are we going to actually go and meet these people?" he asked. "I've been in school for a long time, and I want to actually meet some of the neighbors!" Annabell merely nodded in agreement as Mrs. Van Stomm came into the room to check up on them.

"Hey Mom, we were gonna go back to Dinna Bell's house, that okay with you?" Buford asked her.

"Sure," Mrs. Van Stomm replied, "Just be back before dinner. We were planning to invite all your friends over for the cookout tonight, just so you know."

"Great!" her son smiled, cracking his knuckles, "That nerd may've had a brief break before, but now I gotta go make up some lost time. Let's get going."

Adyson smiled, "Well, what are we waiting for? C'mon!" Without thinking, she grabbed Buford's hand, and dragged him out of the room before he could protest.

Jarv chuckled, "Quite the couple, no?"

Annabell smiled back before playfully punching him, "Come on, Jarv. We better catch them before we lose them and have to find these boys' house by ourselves."

Jarv nodded, and linked arms with Annabell before walking out the door, easily catching up with their siblings as they got closer to the Flynn-Fletcher home.

**Ω Ω**

Phineas sat under the tree, his mind wandering as he stared up into the clouds with Ferb on his right side, Baljeet on his left, and Perry in his lap. For once during this summer, the platypus hadn't gone and run off at all that day, mostly due to the fact that he was able to squeeze a day off out of Monogram. So today, Perry slept soundly in Phineas' lap, while his owner merely stared up at the clouds, much more bored than he should have been.

Ferb had taken the time to pick up a book and start to read it again, since he had hardly ever started it or read it because of the constant project-building that had taken up his entire summer so far. Though Ferb knew Phineas would hate to admit it, sometimes there were days that warranted time off from projects of any kind for the duration of those 24 hours. He was glad that his entire summer wasn't spent doing just this, but there were those times where the constant building would get to him. Fortunately for him and Phineas, it hardly ever happened, although for some reason, each day he was about to tell Phineas he'd rather not participate, Phineas had already found some completely different reason not to make some outrageous project. This had only happened two times, which had coincidentally been the only two times that he hadn't wanted to build something. The first had been the day that his step-brother had decided to just relax for the entire day. The second day was this day. Phineas had who-knew-what up his sleeve, but it seemed the Lady Luck had been at his side once again, and had gotten Buford, Isabella, and pretty much all of the Fireside Girls called back home. For what, Ferb had no idea, but in spite of himself, he found himself grateful that they had left and let him have his own kind of lazy day for once.

He was interrupted by his sister as she came outside, pulling his step-mother along to show her the boys' project for the day. Candace froze when she realized that, again, she had pulled her mother away from whatever she'd been doing only to show her the empty backyard, for what seemed to be the millionth time that summer.

"Aw, come on!" she yelled, shaking her fist up at the sky. "What do you have against me?"

Phineas chuckled a bit, amused by the truth in his sister's words. In truth, it really did seem like their projects had been cursed to always disappear, but this time he spoke up. "Candace, we didn't do anything today."

Candace raised an eyebrow, "And why would that be?"

Baljeet answered this one, though he answered it sullenly. "There are only three of us, Candace. Unfortunately for us, we do not have enough manpower to build anything very large." By now Mrs. Flynn had left, more than likely to put away groceries she'd gotten.

Candace looked very surprised, "We are talking about the same kids, right? The same ones that built a roller coaster all by themselves, the ones who organized a trip around the world and time travelled -twice! And you're telling me that they can't build another project without everyone else?"

Ferb peered over the top of his book, nearly saying something to his step-sister, but then decided against it. Instead, his step-brother spoke up. "Candace, just because we can doesn't mean we will. This is supposed to be fun, not a job. There isn't really any gain from finishing today's project if there's almost no one to share it with."

Candace sighed, "I get it, Phineas. But I'll be watching you... tomorrow." With that, she turned on her heel and left through the sliding glass door.

Everyone was sitting there silently for probably ten minutes or so before Baljeet piped up, "I think I hear voices."

Phineas looked at the boy, "Well, whatever you do, don't listen to them. They're usually wrong and can make you do bad things."

Baljeet looked at Phineas like he was crazy, "What? No! I mean, I think I hear other peoples' voices coming this way."

Phineas listened for a second, and then nodded in agreement, "There's definitely someone coming. Ferb?"

Ferb lowered the book just a little bit, and listened carefully, before he placed his book in his lap and held up two of his fingers.

"Two?" Ferb nodded. Phineas scratched his chin. "I wonder who they are. Hopefully it'll be Buford and Isabella, or one of them and one of the Fireside Girls. Then I can explain tomorrow's plan to them."

Baljeet looked afraid, "I would personally rather it not be Buford. He is scary."

Phineas raised an eyebrow at Baljeet, "Seriously, Baljeet? You've known him for much longer than most of us, and you're still afraid of him when the rest of us aren't?"

Baljeet just looked at him, "Yes, yes I am."

Phineas was about to say something when there was a knock on the gate. "Come in," he answered.

Isabella walked in, a big smile on her face, "Hey Phineas, whatcha' doin?"

Phineas grinned at her, "Hey Isabella. Nothing much, just being bored."

Isabella smiled, which surprised Phineas. Almost any other day, she'd be unhappy to hear him say he was bored, but not today. "Perfect."

Phineas stared at her, "Huh? Why is that, Isabella?"

Isabella immediately realized what she'd just said and what he might take it to mean. "Oh, no, not like that!" she tried to correct herself, "I was just saying that because, well, I have someone you might want to meet. I didn't mean for it to sound like I was glad you guys were bored and had nothing to do, since that's not a good thing. But I was glad you guys were bored, because this means you'd have some extra time on your hands, so-" Isabella rambled before she was interrupted by another voice.

"Isabella? I'm just going to come in there," a deep masculine voice called from behind the gate.

"What?" Isabella sighed heavily, "Fine. Come on, then." She turned back to Phineas, saying in her best announcer voice, "Now, without further ado, I present to you... my brother, Luther."

Luther stepped inside the gate, surveying his surroundings as he walked towards Isabella. Phineas noticed the many similarities between the two, such as the same black hair, and very dark brown eyes that were similar to his sister's. His hair was cut very short, and he stood a few inches taller than his sister, nearly even with Ferb. He wore a plain blue t-shirt, and camo cargo shorts, and his expression made Phineas think that he was quite confident in himself.

Luther stepped up to Phineas first, offering a hand, "Nice to meet you, Phineas. Isabella's told me a lot about you."

Phineas grinned. "All good, I hope," he answered, grasping Luther's hand firmly and shaking.

"Enough," Luther smiled back before releasing Phineas' hand and stepping beside Ferb, who had stood up to greet the newcomer. "Good to meet you, Ferb," He offered his fist and Ferb bumped it with his own. "I've heard quite a bit about you, too. I've just got one question: What _does_ "Ferb" stand for?"

"Well, since you asked, it's short for-" Ferb began to answer before he was interrupted by Baljeet.

"What about me?" Baljeet asked. "Don't you want to know who I am?"

Luther grinned wryly at Baljeet. "Baljeet, I already know where you live, who you are, and what you do at every second of every day."

All the kids' eyes, Isabella's included, widened at this statement. "Stalker!" Baljeet jumped back. "How?"

Luther looked around at all the other kids, "Seriously, guys? You actually think I have nothing better to do than to stalk Baljeet? Come on!" And then he turned back to Baljeet, holding up a piece of paper, "To answer your question, Baljeet, this is how I know so much about you. I found it on the sidewalk a little while ago."

Baljeet took the piece of paper from Luther, "My candy-colored schedule!"

Isabella elbowed Baljeet in the side, "You're lucky he found it and not Buford."

Baljeet laughed nervously. "Yes, you are right about that, Isabella."

Luther turned to his sister, "So now that we've done introductions and I've sufficiently creeped out Baljeet and probably some others, you want to ask him?" The other boys looked on with questioning looks, but the two siblings ignored them.

Isabella nodded before turning to Phineas. "H-hey Ph-Phineas, do you want to come over for a sec?" she stuttered, cursing her inability to speak clearly to him. "Luther said you could explain something that he made to me better than he could."

Phineas raised an eyebrow. "I guess so," he answered, looking to Ferb, who nodded. "Sure, I'll come."

Luther added in, "If any of you guys want to come, you're welcome to." Ferb nodded again, and stepped beside his step-brother. Baljeet shrugged and also stepped forward.

"Well, thanks for the invitation," Luther spun around to face the gate, coming face-to-face with Buford in the process. "New kid, right?"

"Sure, call me what you want," Luther knew better than talk with Buford for too long, as it would more than likely test his temper the longer he spoke. Instead of waiting for a response, he simply pushed Buford out of the way, and through another boy who looked quite like Ferb, which he found a bit odd, and then ran into Adyson and another girl who looked a bit like her. "Now if you'll excuse us, we ought-" Luther began before he almost ran Adyson and the other girl over.

The girl beside Adyson put her hand out, stopping Luther. "Don't you want to know who we are?" she asked sweetly.

Luther blinked, and then answered, "Sure."

The girl smiled, "Alright then, I guess you know Buford already," she pointed at the larger of the two boys, "That's Jarv," she pointed to the slight Ferb look-alike, "This is my sister, Adyson," she placed a hand on her sister's shoulder, "And I'm Annabell."

Luther extended his hand out to her, "I'm Luther, Isabella's brother."

Annabell shook it, and then turned to Adyson, "You didn't tell me Isabella had a brother."

Adyson answered, "If I'd known, I would have told you."

Luther stood still for a second before sighing and shaking his head. He finally stated, "I guess if you guys want to come, it'll be alright. That fine with you, Isabella?"

Isabella thought about it for a second. "I guess so," she answered slowly.

"Well then," Phineas said happily, "let's go!"

Luther nodded and led everyone across the street, into his house, and up to his bedroom door. "This," Luther paused, "is my room. Come and see." He held the door open for everyone as they filed in. The girl Annabell went in last. She turned to Luther before she entered.

"What was with the pause?" she asked sweetly, staring intently at Luther.

Luther shrugged his shoulders. "Dramatic effect," he answered, "I can't help it if I'm proud of myself."

Annabell smirked. "Well, let's go in then," she replied, holding out a hand.

Luther took it as they went into the room, only to see Isabella holding the helmet out to Phineas, who was examining it. Luther could hear what Phineas was saying, which was explaining how his own invention worked, but he tuned his sister's crush out; he already knew how the thing worked, and he was focused on the girl whose hand he was holding. She looked simply amazing, her dark, rich, chocolate-colored hair falling in subtle curls down to her shoulder blades. Her dark blue eyes shone like jewels as the little light that was in the room bounced off them, making her look that much more beautiful to Luther. Then someone snapped their fingers beside his ear, and Luther automatically snapped out of his daydream. He turned to see Annabell looking at him quizzically.

"What happened?" he asked, a bit embarrassed that he'd slipped into a daydream in the middle of this situation, since he was supposed to be listening to Phineas' explanation and correcting him if he was wrong, and that would mean that everyone would be looking at him. And that made this the worst time to start to daydream about a girl he only met less than half an hour ago.

"You were zoning out," she answered. "Whatcha thiiinkin' about?" Isabella snapped her head around to look at Annabell, but then decided to let this one slide. Besides, it was good for Luther to get to know someone who might actually be a friend to him, instead of using him as a scapegoat, like what sounded to be happening at his old school, where he had been promptly given a letter of expulsion on the day of his leaving.

Luther was caught off guard. He was certainly not used to being put on the spot; most people never even spoke to him at all. He smiled, trying to think up something believable. In the end, he had nothing. "I don't know."

Fortunately, Isabella decided to save her brother from any more embarrassment. "Hey, Luther!" she called. "Would it kill you to stop flirting and help Phineas figure out how your invention works?"

Luther stood there for a second before nodding and coming over to his sister. But before he went, he turned back to Annabell. "Until we speak again, young miss," he imitated a more haughty tone, and then bowed deeply to her, causing her to giggle. Luther smirked and then waved, "See ya."

Isabella watched Luther walk over as Annabell turned back to her sister as they began to speak in hushed tones. "Looks like you're popular already," she commented as Luther stepped up next to her. Luther shrugged apologetically, making up some excuse, but Isabella had already turned back to Phineas. "So Phineas," she asked, pausing for a slight moment before continuing, "whatcha doin'?"

Phineas turned back to Isabella, handing Ferb the helmet. "Well, I was just examining the helmet your brother made," he answered. He turned to Luther, "How long did it take you to do this?"

Luther thought about it for a moment, "Well, let's see. I drew up the blueprints a while back, so I needed to check and make sure that I didn't make some kind of mistake before I started building it. So I started around... 9:00 or so, and finished around twenty, thirty minutes ago. So I'd say a good two and a half hours or so."

Phineas looked at him. "Yeah. That sounds about right for us too."

"I wouldn't know," Luther answered, "but do you guys have any of your projects around? I'd like to see what you guys do."

Phineas sadly shook his head, "Sorry. Whenever we make something, It's somehow destroyed or disappears after we've finished with it. I know it does help with cleanup, but there are some times where I'd like to know where it goes or where whatever takes it away is, because there are times where I want to keep a certain project for the archives."

Isabella looked at him intently. "The archives?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. "What are the archives?"

Phineas turned back to her, "Ferb didn't tell you?" Both Ferb and Isabella shook their heads. "Well, it's a room we built a while back to store the few projects that did survive, after salvaging the front car of the roller coaster. You remember, we used that during the summer solstice?"

Isabella nodded. "What about it?" she asked.

Phineas smiled toothily, "That was one of the first items that went into the archives. Along with a lot of other stuff. I'll show it to you guys later."

Luther butted in, "Hopefully before school starts, because I'll have to leave again after that."

Annabell nodded. "Jarv and I will also be gone by then," she added. The mood in the room suddenly went from light to somber in a matter of seconds.

That was, until Luther perked up. "Why should we all be sad?" he turned to the others, "I actually have a CD that I was going to test on the machine! Isabella, Phineas, put on the helmets."

They both did so as Luther took the CD and inserted it into the CD drive before cycling through a few of the the songs on it. "Let's see. Not that one, that's a little too sad. Hm. That's pretty quick, but let's do that one afterward. Ok, we'll start with this one, then Isabella, you hand your helmet to Ferb, and on the third song, that's for Ferb alone."

The three kids looked at Luther quizzically, wondering what was about to happen. While they were waiting, Phineas whispered to Isabella, "You never mentioned you had a brother. And a cool one at that." Isabella gave him a half-smile at the last bit.

"And you never told me you had an entire archive where you kept some of your stuff," she countered.

Phineas grinned, "Touché."

They were interrupted by Luther, "You guys ready for this?"

"Sure!" the two chorused.

"Oh, wait!" Luther called. "Can one of you guys get Candace? We'll need her for one of the songs." Ferb tapped Luther on the shoulder. Isabella's brother turned to see the taller green-haired staring straight at him. "You can?"

Ferb nodded.

Luther grinned, "Thanks Ferb."

Phineas watched the scene from afar. "Seems like your brother is getting to know us pretty well."

Isabella nodded. "Well, I _did_ tell him quite a bit about you guys."

"About most of us, or about one in particular?" Phineas asked slyly.

Isabella's heart began to beat twice as fast. "What do you mean by that?" she stuttered.

Phineas answered casually, "Well, I just can't help but notice that you usually spend most of your time around me, so I figured that most of the stuff you'd be able to tell him is about me."

Isabella's eyes widened at this statement. _Does he know?_ she asked herself. _Did someone tell him? _She was forced to stop her racing thoughts to hear the rest of what Phineas was saying.

"...but I guess it is possible that I'm just a bit oblivious and you spend a lot of time around the others, so I could always be wrong." He looked back at Isabella. "Is there something wrong, Isabella?" he asked her, seeing that she looked shaken. "Did I say something bad?"

All Isabella could do was shake her head no. She had been so close to confessing to him that she feared if she opened her mouth again, she would do exactly that. As if knowing what was happening, Luther strolled across the room to Phineas and his sister. "Something wrong?" he asked the two friends, then, noticing Isabella's expression, quickly unclipped the helmet. "C'mon, Isabella, we need to talk for a second." He turned to Phineas, "You think you could excuse us for a little bit?" he turned and walked away with Isabella in tow, the twelve-year-old girl not saying a word. "Please, no one open this door once we leave, alright?" he said to the other kids.

The others nodded, not really understanding what was happening. Luther smiled toothily, and then took Isabella out of his room and guided her to her own room.

He closed the door and had her sit on her bed. "Alright Isabella, now you can vent," he told her.

Isabella's lip quivered before she did so. "I LOVE YOU, PHINEAS FLYNN!" she shouted, making Luther wince. The soundproofing in his room would only go so far. "I ALWAYS HAVE AND I ALWAYS WILL! EVER SINCE WE MET, I LOVED YOU! YOU'RE PERFECT PHINEAS, AND I WANT TO BE WITH YOU SO BAD IT HURTS!" Finally done, she hung her head in her hands and started crying silently, with Luther trying his best to comfort her. "Why doesn't he notice me?" she blubbered, "Am I too early?"

Luther took her hands away from her eyes. "It's possible you are, Isabella," he answered. "He isn't a teenager yet, so there is a possibility that he's not thinking about girls yet. Just give him time."

Isabella nodded before pulling Luther into a crushing hug. "Thanks for understanding, Luther," she smiled.

Behind the two, they could hear an "Awwwwwww" coming from the direction of the doorway. They both spun around to see Candace peeking in on them. "That's so cute!" she said, a big smile on her face.

Isabella looked alarmed, "Um, Candace?"

Candace looked back at her, "Yes?"

"How much did you hear?" Isabella asked.

Candace smirked, "Well, since you were screaming at the top of your lungs, all of it. But don't worry, I'm not gonna tell him." She turned to look at Luther, "This your brother?"

Isabella nodded. "Candace, this is Luther, my brother."

Luther smiled at Candace and waved. "C'mon guys!" he told them, "The others are probably pretty bored without us, so let's get back to them!" They all consented, and Luther led the way back to the room with now three others in tow.

**And that's the end of part one! Lemme just make sure I've got all my copyrights in order…**

"**Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne is not mine. It's Ozzy's. Rock on, dude! I chose the one from 'Live at Budokan' cause it had more guitar. (You can never have enuf gee-tar!) Yeah… I be tropin'.**

**As you can see, the story is focusing a bit more on the OCs. Really guys, sorry about that. It's just they're pretty much built from scratch, so I'll be focusing on creating their personalities a little more than the average writer… Not to mention how much of a flood is coming… Ug… You'll understand next chapter.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you guys are starting to like this story!**

**I shall try to post the next bit ASAP, but don't expect it today…**

**Yeah… Lancelot couldn't make it this time… but she did Beta, so props to her!**

**See ya guys later!**

**-Terra **


	3. Karoke, Friendship, and Blood

**All right guys, I've re-updated with the second half of the chapter! Took a bit of time on my part, but hey, it's up, so no complaining. I posted the last half and a total of… 2 reviews! Eh… I shouldn't really be complaining, should I?**

**Lancelot: No, you shouldn't. Apparently, that's more than you used to get.**

**Fair enough. As the scoring on shoutouts and whatnot stands, we've got EmperorDoofenshmirtz leading with… 2 points! If you guys like, you can join in. Actually, I'd encourage you to do so… I'll probably give the person who wins a sneak peek at the next in the series. Yes, that's right. NEXT story in the series. There will be more after this, so watch out! (Although personally, I'm not totally sure how much you guys'll like it, but eh, whatevs.)**

**Anywho, let's get on to the next part of the story. And EmperorDoofenshmirtz (yeah, I'm just gonna call you the Emperor…), your concerns in the last review will be addressed here. Now on to the story!**

Phineas sat over on Luther's bed, just thinking. _Why was Isabella like that? _He asked himself, _I didn't think I said anything wrong. _He sighed, _Apparently, I did. First thing when she gets back, I'm going to apologize for whatever happened that made her feel like that. I would never want her to feel bad because of me. Especially since she's my best friend. _His thoughts began to wander as he stared at the door, _What could be taking them so long? _He wondered, _I hope whatever I said wasn't too bad. I'm not sure I'd be able to forgive myself if I said the wrong thing to her. _Still, his thoughts rambled on, _At least she's got Luther to take care of her. She's certainly glad she has someone to help her out, even if it is only over the summer. He seems like a good guy._ He shook his head. "Ugh. I'm going to go insane if I keep on thinking about this."

"Think about what?" Baljeet surprised Phineas by plopping down beside him. He shook his head, refusing to say a word for fear of actually answering the question.

"C'mon Dinna Bell, you can tell us." Phineas was almost surprised to see Buford and Jarv beside Baljeet, listening intently. Off by the door, Adyson and Annabell stood, Annabell leaned up against the wall and listening to her sister talk about something else. Phineas already knew he was beaten, so he just decided to quit while he was ahead and not attract _all _the attention in the room at himself.

"Fine," he answered. "I was just thinking about Isabella. Happy?" he scowled as Buford grinned at him.

"Gotta say, Dinna Bell, it's about time," Buford replied.

Phineas' eyebrows rose at the statement, causing Buford's mouth to snap shut. "What was that supposed to mean, Buford?" he asked, but Buford vehemently shook his head.

"I ain't sayin," he replied. "Nothin's gonna drag that outta me."

Phineas sighed, "Whatever. Any of you guys have something else to think about? Because I swear, if I keep thinking about Isabella, I'm pretty sure my brain's gonna explode."

Jarv, for the first time since Phineas had met him, laughed. "Girls'll do that to you, dude. I wouldn't worry about it too much now, but if you think this is bad, and then you're gonna have it way worse when you really hit puberty."

Phineas looked at the new kid inquisitively. "How come Buford's never mentioned you before?" he asked.

Buford butted in, "I don't need to share every bit of my life with you, do I, Dinna Bell?"

Phineas was surprised by Buford's sudden rage, no matter how slight it might have been. "I suppose not," he replied.

Buford nodded in approval before Jarv spoke this time. "You'll have to excuse my brother's bluntness, Phineas," he answered, trying out the redhead's name for the first time, "However, he does have a point. I do not believe that it is your job to know everything there is to know about all of your friends," he held up a hand, stopping Phineas' protests before they even came, "even if you don't mean to. I would think the main reason Buford never mentioned me was that he either: didn't feel like it, wanted to have some secrecy in his life sometimes, or felt it wasn't very important, seeing as I hardly ever get to see anyone else besides classmates and family. Of course, it could also be a combination of these three. Either way, even if I hadn't met you guys, you would have found out eventually."

"Well, I'd assume so," Phineas answered a bit snarkily, "It's kind of hard to keep a person a secret for too long."

Jarv laughed, "You just keep thinking that," he answered, and when Phineas gave him an odd look, he continued, "Oh, come on. There have been others who have been hidden from almost everyone for much longer than me. Like... ok, so I don't have too many ideas right now, but someone like the Hunchback of Notre Dame."

"But that was just a movie!" Phineas replied.

"They made up the names, but I could probably see that happening. There were some pretty heartless people that long ago. But I mean, stuff like that can be hidden from people for years. And then one day, it's just like: BOOM! Yeah, we had this super-secret thing going on, and we just decided to let you know all about it now. So, yeah. Have fun getting swamped with all that info."

"But that hasn't happened to us recently, right?" Phineas asked, "I mean, besides you guys."

"Black helicopters. Google it," Jarv answered.

"You can't be serious!" Phineas told him, "That's just an urban legend! A myth!"

Jarv nodded, "I thought the same at first, but then I did some research, some analysis, and some," his eyes darted around before leaning closer to Phineas, making Buford and Baljeet also lean in, and whispered, "hacking, and I found records that actually state that there was, at one time, a department who did just that. However, they were downsized and eliminated when we all were about three years old."

"So see?" Phineas smiled triumphantly, "I was right."

Jarv shook his head, "It's not the real facts here. It's the principle of the thing. But it doesn't really matter right now."

Phineas turned to see Luther and Isabella walking into the room again, along with Ferb and Candace. He nodded as the others came over to join them. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked. "Let's get this party started!"

Luther laughed. "You don't know how right you are," he said quietly, only letting Isabella and Annabell hear him. He gave Isabella back her helmet before making sure that the two had their own helmets on correctly. Then he turned and had Candace crouch so he could easily fit the helmet to her head. When he'd finally finished, he took a step back, admiring the three, who each had the tops of their heads covered by the aluminum framework. In addition to that, their eyes were covered by a special, custom-created pair of goggles, a glowing slit symbolizing the eyes. "There might be a slight tingling sensation," Luther told them as stepped over to the control panel, "However, you needn't worry about it. I've been testing it since it was first built." Ferb nodded in approval, "Oh, and one other thing. The environment gets more realistic the more you've seen it. Same with exact situations, as long as your memory of them is strong and detailed." He looked at the three of them. "You guys ready?" he asked.

Phineas grinned, "I'm ready."

Isabella gave her brother a large smile. "I am too," she told him.

Candace paused for a second, taking a few deep breaths. Finally, she settled down and looked at Luther. "I guess so," she answered, still a bit uneasy.

Luther noticed her uneasiness, and smiled encouragingly at her. "Don't worry, Candace," he told her, "It's just a simple matter of remembering. Anything you remember will be there so long as there's a person to represent that person or there's an object that can represent another object."

Candace looked inquisitive. "So does this mean that one of them," she pointed at the others who weren't wearing helmets, "could be substituted as Jeremy?"

"Actually no," Luther answered, "I don't know why, but usually the people who we know the names of don't get replaced by other random people. So I wouldn't worry about someone like Buford or Jarv turning into Jeremy."

Candace sighed in relief. "Thank goodness," she answered, brushing a hand across her forehead.

"Alright, guys, you ready for this?" Luther asked excitedly. "I think you guys'll like this song that I chose."

When he finally got three nods from the people hooked up to his creation, Luther had Ferb stay beside him as he looked over the control board. "Phineas, you're good. Isabella, you too. Candace, despite having a bit of an increased heart rate, you're ready to go." Luther threw the switch, and the entire world dissolved before them into a large backyard, day being replaced by night. Luther smirked as he watched the bewildered looks of many of the children at the sudden change. Ferb, however, looked at Luther knowingly, who noticed his stare. "What?" he asked. Ferb motioned to the area around them. "This? No, I didn't choose it for that reason. I thought it was a nice song, although that added element will make for a nice time had by all." Luther then called to everyone, "Let's start this party!"

The rest of the false-world began to materialize, filling the room with other children their age, teenagers around Candace's age, and even a few young adults. Luther could see Phineas gaping at the display before him, and Isabella couldn't stop grinning. Candace took a few moments to realize where they were before she too had a gigantic smile on here face.

Then Phineas delivered the line that caused all of the rest of the events that were to happen to be set in motion. "Alright, you heard them. Let's get this party started!"

Before anyone could realize what was happening, Adyson suddenly had a trumpet in her hands and she automatically knew what to do. A chorus of trumpets began to play, setting the scene for the song, and giving away the song to everyone except Annabell and Jarv. Then Phineas began to sing.

_It been a long, long day__  
__And there were moments when I doubted___

Isabella looked on in shock for a split second before a smile grew on her face, growing so big it almost covered her entire face. Then, she too began to sing along with the lyrics of the song.

_That we'd ever reach the point__  
__Where we could laugh and sing about it___

They both got closer together and sang as Isabella stared lovingly at Phineas, her eyes glued to him and him alone.

_Now the sun has set on this, __  
__Another extraordinary day__  
__And when it comes around again__  
__You know I'll say__  
__Tell me what you wanna do today__  
__All we need is a place to start__  
__If we have heart, we'll make it__  
__'Cause we're not messin' around (we're not messin' around) __  
__Yes we can dream it, do it, build it, make it__  
__I know we can really take it__  
__To the limit before the sun goes down_

Even as they started singing, they were moving around onstage, and around halfway through, Isabella was already in a dream world, seeing as Phineas was holding her hand that entire time. As Luther watched his sister, he knew that nothing in the world could compare to the memory of that smile on her face, and he was glad that he'd made her this happy. Then the two split apart for their next verses, though they didn't move too far from each other.

And then they were back to singing, with Phineas beginning the song again.

_As soon as you wake up you gotta make your move___

Isabella's mind was already on overdrive, but she found the ability to keep singing as she kept up with the fast beat.

_Don't miss the beat, just get into the groove___

The two began to get closer together as they sang, their smiles taking up most of their faces. Already, Luther could see Ferb grabbing his guitar and Buford getting the front car of the roller coaster. Adyson paused in her playing of the trumpet and tossed Isabella a tennis racket, which made no sense to the Luther, Annabell and Jarv until they saw Isabella hop into the roller coaster car and get ready to pretend to paddle towards the stage with Buford pushing them. And Luther had to admit that they were talented, as they kept singing all the while.  
_The sun is shinin', there's a lot that you can do (a lot that you can do)__  
__There's a world of possibilities outside your door__  
__Why settle for a little, you can get much more__  
__Don't need an invitation, every day is new__  
__Yes, it's true__  
__Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)__  
__Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)__  
__Summer belongs to everyone, so have some fun__  
__There's nothing better to do__  
__Summer belongs to you___

Then Candace stepped forward beside her brother, her smile evident.

_All right, I'm taking a verse.___

Phineas nodded to her.

_Be my guest.___

Candace took a microphone, her smile wide enough to almost eclipse that of her brother's.

_I traveled halfway 'round the world__  
__And almost turned and ran away__  
__But you helped me get my courage back__  
__So now I've got to say__  
__That though I've often thought of you__  
__As just a nuisance and a bother__  
__Today I can't imagine__  
__Having better little brothers__  
__And you gotta believe in something__  
__So today I believed in you__  
__And you came through, we made it__  
__I've never been so proud (never been so proud)__  
__I know at first it seemed implausible__  
__But we accomplished the impossible__  
__Now there's something that I've got to say out loud_

She jumped off the stage and had everyone gathered around her in multiple circles, with Phineas and herself in the center.

_Time is what you make of it, so take a chance___

As Phineas remembered that night, his smile growing bigger at the thought that his sister was acting carefree once again. Heaven knew she needed to take a break from her obsessive desire to "bust" them once in a while.

_That's it! ___

Candace kept going, enjoying the feeling of her carefree side taking over.

_Life is full of music so you ought to dance___

Phineas already knew this, but he said it anyway.

_She's got it! ___

Candace didn't stop there. And everyone else was backing her up on this.

_The world's a stage and it is time for your debut (it's time for your debut) ___

Phineas never really understood why he had said that. Perhaps those books he was reading were influencing him in some way? Either way, he certainly found the line amusing, though it did fit quite well.

_By Jove, I think she's got it! ___

Candace knew she didn't have to continue, but apparently it was still part of the song, so she did.

_Don't waste a minute sitting on that chair___

Phineas also knew she needed no encouragement, but he still gave it to her.

_Yeah! ___

Candace began to get a bit tired of the song. Yes it was nice, and it brought back the memories, but without Jeremy, it just seemed to be... flat. Not that she let her little brother know that.

_The world is callin' to you, just get out there___

Phineas shouted more words of encouragement, getting ready for his big part once again.

_That's what I'm talking about! ___

Candace tried not to disappoint, and so she kept going.

_You can see forever so your dreams are all in view___

Phineas was finally ready for the chorus again, and just in time too.

_Yes it's true___

Phineas and Candace took their microphones as they both began to sing again, along with everyone else.

_Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)__  
__Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)__  
__Summer belongs to everyone, so have some fun__  
__There's nothing better to do__  
_  
Then Candace saw Jeremy walk in through the door. Apparently Isabella's brother, Luther, had the foresight to invite him to come too. She ran over to him, handing Isabella her microphone. Isabella took it and began to sing beside Phineas, still as happy as ever.

_Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)__  
__Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)__  
__Summer belongs to boys and girls all around the world__  
__We wouldn't say it if it wasn't true__  
__Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)___

They turned to Ferb as he looked up from the keyboard.

_Baby, baby, baby, baby___

Phineas laughed inwardly at how familiar this was. _Luther did a really good job with this machine_, he thought. _I had no idea that the Garcia-Shapiros had inventing in their blood._ He resolved to congratulate Luther after he was done singing with his sister, whose hand he now held.

For Isabella, this was Cloud Eight. She was so close, yet just far enough away that it wasn't the most personal incident in the world. In a setting like this, Isabella had to agree, a situation like this was much more romantic than if she confessed her love to the redhead beside her. _Give him time, girl, _she thought, _and you'll get results. Not to say you should stop hinting, but don't just fully express it all just yet. _After all, they were still 12, and they had their whole lives ahead of them. So she returned to singing.

_Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you) __  
__Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you) __  
__Whatever you want to do, you make the rules__  
__You got the tools to see it through__  
__Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you) __  
__Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you) __  
__Just remember that you can do it and when you're through it__  
__Will change your point of view__  
__Summer belongs to you!_

Phineas turned to see Isabella giggling, but trying to hide it. "What is it, Isabella?" he asked, his eyes inquisitive.

Isabella tried to stifle the laugh that threatened to bubble up from her throat, "I was just remembering what you said right after we finished the song last time. You remember?" He shook his head. Isabella began to giggle, but restrained herself from doing so until she told him the reason. "You said 'Hey, where's Perry?'" she burst out into a fit of giggles that could be heard across the room.

**ΩΩ**

Luther smiled as he watched Phineas hold his sister so that she wouldn't fall over. "Good times, huh?" Annabell stepped next to him, grinning widely.

Luther nodded. "Seems like it," he replied, his finger aimed to stop the simulation and get ready for the next one, just as the rest of the party began.

Annabell grabbed his wrist. "Why stop?" she asked, "We've got the rest of the summer to try out those other ones you had. By the way, which two where they?"

Luther answered, "The next one was when they built a spa, and the last one was going to be when they built a beach in their backyard." Annabell's eyes widened.

"I think those are both something we can save for separate days," she told him. "After all," she added with a sly wink, "can't let them have _too_ much fun, now can we?"

Luther smiled, "Fair enough. How 'bout you and Jarv go ahead and have some fun, and I'll make sure that everything doesn't explode."

Before Luther knew it, there was a hand on his shoulder, and when he turned, he saw it was Ferb. The British youth looked at him, his eyes delving deep into Isabella's brother's own. "You'll take it from here?" Luther asked him, guessing at what the green-haired boy was trying to say. Ferb nodded. Luther looked back to Annabell and Jarv... whose eyes seemed to be shooting daggers at him for some reason. He ignored it, believing it to be a trick of the light. "I guess I'll be coming with you guys," he finally stated, making both pairs of eyes light up, but with two completely different moods.

"What are we waiting for?" Annabell smiled brightly and took both of the boys' hands in her own before dragging them both out onto the dance floor. "Hey, Adyson!" she shouted to her sister over the music. "You got any girls willing to dance with these two guys?"

Adyson looked away from Buford to see her sister leading the two boys through the crowd. "Girls!" she called to the other Fireside Girls around her. "Who doesn't already have a partner?"

Only Holly, Katie, and Gretchen came up empty-handed. "That's all of us," Gretchen answered, curtly nodding to the Fireside second in command.

"Alright girls," Adyson stated. "Those two boys need partners. Who wants 'em?" she pointed to Luther and Jarv as they made their way through the crowd.

Gretchen was the first to answer. "He looks cute," she said, pointing to Jarv. As soon as she did so, she immediately pulled her hand back. "Sorry, Adyson. Permission to speak?"

Adyson nodded, "Gretchen, you don't need my permission every time you want to speak." She chuckled, "Sometimes I think you're getting too formal. But that's a completely unrelated subject we can discuss later. Go get him!"

Buford came out of the crowd before she left, stopping Gretchen in her tracks. "Don't I get a say in this?" he asked. "After all, he _is_ my brother."

Adyson looked at him, a bit annoyed at this sudden development. "Depends," she answered. "What's your say?"

Buford answered obviously, "I say no. We're still pretty young, and I don't want my lil bro to grow up just yet."

Adyson smirked as Holly stated plainly, "I move that we convict Mr. Van Stomm here for repression."

"Seconded," Katie answered.

Adyson nodded, "Motion put forth and seconded. Authorization complete." She turned to Buford, "You, Mr. Van Stomm, have been found guilty of repression of affection. Your sentence begins now."

Buford's eyes widened; he'd heard of some of the things the Fireside Girls could do, should they find a person guilty of a "crime". He took a few steps back as the girls convened, and then, when he felt he was a safe distance from them so as not to get completely destroyed, he got ready to run. That was, until Adyson grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and with a surprising amount of strength, overpowered the larger boy and pulled him towards the rest of the group.

Adyson set Buford down in the center of the ring of the four girls. "Your sentence, Buford Van Stomm, is," Adyson spoke to him, letting him quake in fear. Apparently the girls' reputation preceded them, and Adyson decided to enjoy it just a little longer. Once she felt Buford had suffered long enough, she began again. "Your sentence, Buford Van Stomm, is that..." she paused, loving the look of fear on his face. He was in for _such_ a big surprise. "... is that you must dance with me," she finished as Annabell pushed through the crowd to watch the fun unfold.

"Noooooo- wait, what?" Buford's face had gone from very scared to completely confused in mere seconds. "That's it?"

Adyson laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "Just remember that a second ago, that 'punishment' had you scared enough to piss your pants."

Buford laughed with her. "Oh well," he sighed. "Seeing as I don't have a say in this matter, why are you still here?" he asked Gretchen. Then he realized she was already gone. It only took a gaze to his left to see the smaller girl approach his brother. He was distracted when Adyson wrapped an arm around him.

"C'mon, Buford," she smiled at him. "Let's give your brother some privacy."

"Privacy being a relative term," Buford muttered as the two left to go find a good spot on the floor.

**ΩΩ**

Annabell saw Gretchen come towards them as the rest of the Fireside Girls dispersed, more than likely merely concealing themselves to watch the situation unfold. Annabell sighed. Sometimes she wished others would have something better to do than just pry into others' matters, but she supposed that this was a valid reason to do so. At least, it was more valid than some other reasons she'd gotten for someone prying into her own matters. Though at that point, should the intruder be male, Jarv, her very protective friend, would beat them for disrespecting her privacy. She could have done it herself, but Jarv always insisted that he should do it instead. And when the prier had been male, she'd allowed him to do so. When the prier was female, however, she was able to take matters into her own hands. It had been too easy to frighten the girl so badly she'd run out of the school.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Annabell watched as Gretchen altered her course to aim at Jarv, which made her smile. Though Annabell knew she had no reason to do so, she always was trying to help Jarv get more friends and not just have a small circle that might compose of her and the two other friends they had at school. Gretchen, from what she'd heard of the girl from her sister, would be a perfect friend for Jarv._ And who knows? _Annabell thought, _Maybe it'll get to be more as we get older._

Gretchen walked up to Jarv, nearly shaking in apprehension and fear. The larger boy looked down on her, his curiosity eventually overtaking him. "Hello," he greeted her, "what's your name?"

"Gretchen," she answered, still a bit timid of the larger boy who stood around a head taller than her. "I wanted to ask you a question," she stuttered, before she sighed and hit herself in the forehead with her hand. "I'm making a complete fool of myself, aren't I?"

Jarv shook his head quickly. "Of course not," he answered soothingly. "Besides, I act like a complete idiot sometimes too. Or at least, that's what some people say," he emphasized this by directing a playful glare at Annabell before continuing, "However; I'm quick to remind _her_ of one thing."

"What would that be?" Gretchen asked, her curiosity overcoming her shyness.

Jarv grinned widely, "I always tell her this: 'I'm not a complete idiot! Some of the parts are missing!'"

Gretchen laughed at this, "Very nice. But about that question..."

Jarv watched her intently. "What is it?" he asked.

"Um... Would you want to dance with me?" Gretchen belted out, trying not to completely turn red for forcing the statement out.

Jarv raised an eyebrow. "You want to dance? With me?"

Gretchen nodded, not trusting her mouth to speak anymore. She had no idea what she'd do if Jarv said no, but she hardly had to wait for an answer.

"Sure," Jarv answered, putting an arm around Gretchen and leading her away. Before he left, he turned and looked back at the two, his eyes flashing menacingly as they settled on Luther. "You two have fun," he finally said before disappearing into the crowd.

"Well," Annabell turned to look at Luther, "Since it's just you and me, you wanna dance?"

Luther grinned, "Sure."

And so the party kept going until that night, where Buford took everyone over to his house for a neighborhood cookout. And for one of the first times in his life, Luther felt as though he belonged here.

**ΩΩ**

The first child came up toward the dark building, looking at the card he held in his hands. This was the right place, he decided, and began the long climb up the stairs leading to the third floor of what he assumed was an apartment complex. Taking out a key to that had been given to him by his contact, he quietly inserted it into the lock, wincing at the clanking the lock itself made as he turned it. Anyone who was inside the apartment already would have heard him by now, as they too more than likely had the boy's enhanced hearing.

The inside of the apartment was completely dark, the only light coming from the opened doorway and the cracks in the boarded up windows. The boy stepped inside, doing as he had been told and locking the door for the next person to come into. As his eyes adjusted to the near-darkness, he could see a very dim light coming from beneath the door down a seemingly long hallway, which he crept towards. As he got closer, however, he realized that the darkness was affecting his depth perception, and the door was much closer than he had expected. His bare hand gripped the cold metal of the doorknob, and with little effort, the door swung open to reveal a small, circular table with a group of seven chairs placed around it. Above the table was the light source that he had seen, which was glowing dimly, throwing shadows all over the room.

The boy closed the door once again, and sat down in one of the chairs, facing the doorway, making sure to observe his surroundings before relaxing ever so slightly. There were still six other initiates left to come, and he'd rather not be caught off guard by the one who he'd made enemies with. The fourteen-year-old eased back in his chair slowly, one hand keeping a grip on the large knife he'd been given at the start of the trial when there had been thirty initiates who would be only given a knife, a map, an electric tablet to be only used as a countdown timer, and two days rations for a three week trip to this area. He'd spent an entire week huddled inside an igloo he had to create himself on the Alaskan tundra. As of now, he had moved from the upper tundra to a more temperate area of the 49th state, where he'd been instructed by the electronic tablet they'd been given to wait for two more days until this day, where he'd come here, taken one of the keys from the front desk they had all had to pass through. From the looks of that place, it had been abandoned a long time ago. Apparently the boy was the first one to reach the area, seeing as there was no one else within the premises of the apartment.

"Took you long enough," a voice right beside him made him jump and spin around, knife coming out of its sheath as he did so. He was confronted by a girl his own age, who already had a blade pressed against his throat, her brown eyes looking much colder than they should have been able to for a girl her age. "You so much as move, Tango," she spoke quietly, "I will open up your throat right here, right now. It would be a shame to do so, now wouldn't it?" She gave a fake smile at 'Tango' before letting go and sitting down a few chairs away from him. 'Tango', who's blood was still hot, nearly went after her before something else caught his attention.

"Having fun, 'Vector'?" a deeper voice spoke as he stepped out from the doorway. Another boy, not as tall as Tango, stepped out of the gloom into the light. "You're slipping," he told Vector, "If we were back at home base, you'd have killed me by now."

Vector shrugged, "You ought to be glad I'm not at full. That trip took a lot out of all of us, I'm assuming."

Tango nodded, "On that assumption, I'd say some more than others."

"Quite right," a voice beside Vector answered, causing them all to spin around.

"Sierra," Vector nodded to the boy beside her. "Please, sit down," she spoke with a bit of venom, pulling out the chair between herself and Tango.

"Need a barrier to keep me back, now do you, Vector?" Tango grinned. The earlier arrival sat on Tango's other side.

"We'd rather you not try to kill everyone right now, Tango," the boy placed a hand on his shoulder, as to ease Tango's cockiness.

Vector applauded sarcastically, "Very good, Papa, very good speech. You ever consider going into the press?"

Papa turned to look at her, "Vector, you ought not get too full of yourself. I'm certain Sierra and I wouldn't mind if Tango went after you. I might even have to film it and post it on YouTube."

"I wouldn't mind what?" another voice, that of a girl, came out as yet another of the initiates stepped through the doorway, her glasses a bit frosted from the extreme cold. She took her seat beside Papa. "Good to see all of you too," she nodded to the others. "How many more will we be we waiting for?"

"Just one more," a smooth Russian accent filled the air, and the other initiates turned to see the largest of the initiates walk into the room, his stride emanating confidence. "Is it me, or is the American tundra warmer than the Siberian version? I've only been back to the homeland once or twice, but this is much warmer than what we found in Siberia."

"From what I've studied, it is," the male Sierra replied, "Although it's also possible that it's just that you're used to insanely low temperatures and this is nothing compared to what you've been through."

"That would make quite a bit of sense," the Russian boy answered. "A good job to you, Sierra."

"Thanks," they both replied, before they whipped their heads around to look at each other. "He meant me," they said, before the male Sierra held up a hand, stopping his female counterpart.

"I'd rather this not become one of those clichéd exchanges where we keep on going at it for an entire hour, so let's just stop here," he told her.

The female Sierra nodded, "I'll agree with you on that."

Tango grinned and shook his head. "I'm just glad there aren't two Tangos. That would get annoying," he stated.

Vector grinned devilishly, "You've got no idea, Tango. This will probably be the one time I'd have to agree with you on that one."

"On which one?" a new voice called out, and Vector cursed loudly. "Now now, Vector," the voice replied, "That's no way to treat any other of your fellows."

"You just had to mention that, didn't you?" Vector hissed at Tango, who ignored her as the final initiate stepped into the room.

"Hello, little sis," Tango nodded to her. The final initiate, the other Tango, smiled and placed herself beside the female Sierra.

"Vector," her eyes hardened as she stared into the other girl's brown eyes, "Romeo," she smiled a bit at the Russian boy, "Sierra," they both looked at her, and she grinned before saying, "both of you. And Papa," she looked at the final male. "So, who exactly are we waiting for right now?"

"No one," a much deeper voice replied, revealing a man who was more than likely head and shoulders above them. He goggles were hanging from around his neck, and he placed his helmet on the counter of what the initiates now realized was an abandoned kitchen. "You have all reached this place first, and will therefore be given the honor of getting to play a role in the Agency's next mission."

"So we came all this way and suffered this much to come here, and be given another mission by our home's Blue Oni?" Vector asked, before Romeo punched her in the shoulder hard.

"Quiet," he hissed. "You'll make him angry. And believe me, you most certainly will not like him when he's angry."

The man nodded. "That is what happened, Vastile," he replied, and Vector recoiled in the use of her surname so blatantly.

"If I may ask, sir," the male Tango asked, trying his best to tread carefully. "Who will we be known as?"

"That, Thorton," the man replied, "is for the Director to decide."

"I always marveled how much the Agency likes its clichés," Vector chuckled to herself.

The man growled in annoyance, "Insubordination is not an endearing quality, Vastile."

"Quite true," another voice spoke as a final figure stepped through the doorway. "You ought to watch your words more carefully, Vector."

"Sir," one man saluted another.

Then the new arrival spoke to the other man, "Supervisor, go make sure the other initiates don't kill each other. I told them there was still one final key somewhere in this building," he grinned devilishly.

The man, the Supervisor, also grinned, "There isn't, is there?"

The new arrival dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "Of course not. I was just having some fun." The Supervisor left as the new arrival turned back to the initiates. "Well then," the new man spoke, "I suppose you're wondering who I am. Well, I am the Director."

All the initiates' eyes widened as they realized this man was the fabled Director, the man who had helped build the Agency from scratch, and whose family had been running it for two generations and quite a few years. Though he was only second generation, the Director had been able to recruit many more than his father, the original Director, and was beginning to launch an offensive towards the Agency's primary targets: supers. All the initiates that sat here were converted supers, original targets who had come to work for the Director, and by extension, governments all over the world. The Director was know for his especially brutal tactics and his results, which were always positive. No one under his command had ever failed. That was why these seven initiates had been chosen: they were the best of this age the Agency had to offer.

The Director held a stack of file folders, some of them very thick, others just barely thick enough to hold one piece of paper. The Director opened one of these small folders. "Hm..." he spoke, "Daniel Siegfried," the male Sierra stood up from his seat only to be dismissed by a wave of the hand. "Sit down," the Director told him, " It says here in the Supervisor's own words, you are "very smart" and "a good thinker". Although you seem to "overlook the real-world anomalies in your plans". Is that true?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes, sir," he answered, "I've been getting better about spotting those kinds of problems, sir, but there will not be any way to be completely prepared ever."

The Supervisor nodded. "Your call sign is Delta Sierra," he replied, "Welcome to the mission, Delta."

Siegfried bowed to his leader, "Thank you, sir."

"Oh, and before I forget," the Supervisor pulled out from the folds of his jacket an ebony cane, "Seeing as you've most certainly passed, you can have this back." He tossed the cane to Daniel, who caught it. "Good job, Siegfried."

Siegfried snapped a crisp salute, "It's an honor, sir."

The Director moved on to the other Sierra. "Sienna Sharben," he acknowledged her before handing her a cloth to clean her glasses. "Your call sign is Sigma Sierra. Welcome aboard."

Sienna nodded to her superior as she took off her glasses and began to clean them, "A pleasure being here, sir."

"Romeo," the Director turned to the Russian native, "Or rather, Taylan Reznov. You've got Tau Romeo as your call sign. Good luck keeping this lot in line."

"I will certainly try to do so, sir," Taylan replied, grinning in a rather evil manner.

"Papa," the boy beside the male Tango and Sienna straightened up at full attention, "you've been chosen as third in command. Though I know how much you love stealing cars, I will have to ask you to restrain yourself until you're at least sixteen before I can completely cover for every grand theft auto you attempt." He handed the boy his leather jacket, which had been given up at the beginning of the ceremony. "Your call sign, Clancy Palack, is Gamma Papa. Good luck, Gamma."

Clancy nodded in thanks, slipping his jacket onto his shoulders.

"Kelly Thorton," the Director looked at the female Tango, "you've got Epsilon Tango. It ought to be interesting watching the results of you and your brother, so you better do well."

Kelly grinned, "Epsilon reporting for duty, sir," she saluted him.

"Lisa Vastile," the Director curtly acknowledged the girl, "second in command. Beta Vector. Oh, and you requested we give these back to you should you survive." He tossed a brown leather jacket and brown fedora, which Lisa promptly put on. "You watch yourself, Vastile," the Director noted to her. "I could've had you for insubordination at least three or four different times back there."

"Only three or four?" Vastile noted, "I'm slipping."

The Director ignored her and turned to the final initiate, the male Tango. "Herbert "Lawrence" Thorton," he stated to the boy, who looked up at him, "the Supervisor has seen fit for me to grant you command of all these initiates for the mission I've been told to do. Your call sign is Alpha Tango. Welcome aboard, Lawr."

Lawr nodded as the Director circled back over to the counter, which was kitted out with everything, except, for some odd reason, a sink. He picked up a stack of folders before handing them out to the initiates. "These are classified information, agents, so do not, I repeat, do not, let them get out of this group. Not even the other surviving initiates can see them." The Director took a second to scan the room, making sure all the young teens understood. "First folder," he instructed, waiting as they all flipped it open, "You'll need to know your primary targets' names by heart before you leave here, so we'll start now." He held up the first picture, with a child with an abnormally large nose. "This is your first target. He is not the primary threat, nor even the secondary. He's much too nice to be either of those."

"That boy has a Dorito for a head," Lisa stated, before bursting out laughing.

Kelly, Clancy, and Sienna did the same before Siegfried cuffed Lisa upside the head and Lawr cleared his throat, silencing all of them. "Please continue, sir," he said, and the Director did.

"His name is Phineas Flynn. And he is the leader of our targets," the Director told them. He turned to the next person, another boy, who was much taller and thinner than the first. "This is Ferb Fletcher," the Director told them, "Flynn's stepbrother, apparently never speaks, and he's from England. Apparently he's quite good with martial arts, too. Took out a boy twice his size with a pinch."

Siegfried scoffed, "Anyone with knowledge of pressure points could have done that. That doesn't mean he's good in martial arts."

The Director nodded in approval, "Fair enough, Siegfried. I'll make a mention of that to the one who wrote this idiotic report." He placed the second folder down, "Before I continue, you ought to know that these folders have much more than just names and pictures. They have the recent history, ages, likes and dislikes, and daily routines of the targets in them. I'll have you name them off, then read them to yourselves." He held up the next photo, "Isabella Garcia-Shapiro," the next of a large, burly boy, "Buford Van Stomm," a small, Indian boy, "Baljeet Rai," a Caucasian female with her brown hair in a ponytail, "Adyson Sweetwater," then a boy whose dark hair was cut very short, the way he looked into the camera making it look like he was staring at the agents. "Luther Garcia-Shapiro," the Director continued, holding up a picture someone who looked quite alike to Adyson, "Annabell Sweetwater," a boy who looked like Buford in clothing, but Ferb in characteristics, "Jarv Van Stomm," another boy, his size dwarfing even Buford, "Tom Banner," a boy who seemed to be related to Tom, but was smaller and thinner, "Metalleas Banner," a boy who wore dark glasses and had a walking stick up by his side, his height even greater than Ferb, "Argus Calgar," and finally, an older girl wearing a red tank top and a white miniskirt, "and Candace Flynn."

The Director turned to go before Taylan asked, "Sir? What about these other folders?"

The Director turned back to the new agents, "One folder has some of our contacts, the second has our potential threats that are not the targets, and the third are our secondary targets."

Lisa opened the second folder, "Who names their kid Heinz? Or has a kid named Irving, for that matter?"

The Director was about to answer with a particularly scathing remark before Sienna beat him to it, "It doesn't matter about their names, Lisa. What matter is that they've offered their help. Right, sir?"

The Director nodded, "Mr. Doofenshmirtz inadvertently helped us out, however, this Irving character has no idea what he did. He calls himself 'Phineas and Ferb's Biggest Fan'. However, as soon as we begin Operation: First Conversion, the subjects in the third folder will give us trouble."

Kelly raised an eyebrow at her superior after scanning the folder's contents, "The OWCA? Weren't they ordered to shut down after PETA found one of their agents?"

"And you realize how many people listen to PETA, right?" her brother replied. "Plus, this case was done behind closed doors. Only a select few for the association actually knew about it, and they had this department tie up the loose ends."

"Very true, Lawr," the Director nodded. "However, though they owe us, we must be careful here. Monogram's best agent is the Flynn-Fletcher pet. Acronym's best is the Garcia-Shapiro's pet. We'll decommission them before we strike at the primary targets. Although I'd rather we capture Monogram alive, Acronym and Monogram's intern are optional. They're more liabilities than anything else." He turned and walked out, "Any other questions can be answered later."

He stepped out onto the third floor balcony, beside the Supervisor. "How goes it with the masses?" he asked his second in command. Behind him, he thought he heard Vastile mention something like 'Red Oni', but he dismissed it as rather ludicrous.

"Rather well, sir," the Supervisor's deep voice answered, the former drill sergeant straightening up from leaning over the railing. Though the Director couldn't see his colleague's face due to the scarf that covered it, he could tell that he was scowling with contempt at the other initiates. "However, there's one initiate too many here. I count fourteen, and there were only allowed to be thirteen."

The Director pulled out a pistol, "Get them quiet."

The Supervisor turned to the loud group of young teens. "QUIET!" he roared, silencing them all.

The Director stepped forward. "Initiates! I applaud your abilities to survive this far. However, there is still one last test," the initiates could be heard murmuring before the Director continued, cutting them off, "We were to have thirteen of you to come back with us as agents and seven others to be in our next mission. The seven agents have been chosen," a few shouts of disappointment could be heard, but they too stopped as the Director continued, "But for all of your misfortune, there are fourteen of you." The initiates took a second to grasp as the Director lifted his pistol from below the railing, allowing everyone to see it.

One of the initiates panicked and threw herself onto the ground before the balcony, crying out not to kill any of them, pleading with him. "You!" the Director shouted down to him, "Come up here!"

The young teen climbed the stairs to the top to stand beside the Director, who gave her a fake smile, "Don't worry. I won't bite." He then turned to the others assembled before motioning for the teen to step forward. "Initiates!" he shouted, getting their attention, "This girl here has decided that your best course of action is to plead with the figure in command of the situation. Was this how you were taught? I THINK NOT!" he finished the last sentence with a roar.

The girl whimpered, "But you said-"

"I said I wouldn't _bite_," the Director told her, before having the Supervisor restrain her against the edge of the railing. "Let this be a lesson to the rest of you!" the Director shouted to the assembled initiates below, before looking back at the girl.

"P-please d-don't... I-I'm b-begging you..." she stuttered, her cheeks shining tears.

The Director laughed in her face, "Like that's going to stop me." Then he placed the mouth of the pistol on her chest, right above her heart and over her left lung, and fired.

The girl gasped in pain once before the Director grinned and, to make sure she was dead, pushed her over the railing. By the time she hit the ground and snapped her neck, she was already dead.

All the initiates stood where they were, their training keeping them from moving as the Director moved down to observe them. The Supervisor followed him as the first seven stepped out of the apartment to see what all the commotion was about. "Go back inside," the Director ordered them, and they obeyed. Lawr, however remained for a bit longer, to ask a question.

"Sir?" Lawr asked.

"What is it, Alpha?" the Director devoted a bit more of his attention to the leader of what he would now call Alpha Strike Force.

"We're hunting supers, aren't we?" the boy asked knowingly.

"That we are, Alpha, now get inside." Lawr nodded and did as he was told.

"Sir, what shall we name these two groups?" the Supervisor asked as he kept on walking down the stairs, nearing the bottom.

"The first upstairs will be Alpha Strike Force," the Director told him, "they will perform Operation: Integration and Operation: First Steal. We'll bring these ones in near the end of Operation: Iron Fist. You'll be left in charge of all of them for Operation: First Conversion. By then, I'll be checking up on you from time to time. But that's still quite far into the future. We need not dabble into that just yet. For now, we'll stick with Operation: Integration." He left off with the Supervisor still giving him a questioning look. "Oh, right, the others." The Director smiled, "We'll call them 'Lucky Thirteen'."

**First off: Summer Belongs To You doesn't belong to me. It's Disney's. Although summer… nope. That belongs to everyone. Unless I become Evil Overlord of Summer… hm. I'll have to think about that one…**

**Well well well… Looks like we found ourselves…. I'll let you guess what role he plays. First reviewer to name the exact role of the Director gets 2 points, first to get the general role he plays gets 1 point. Good Luck.**

**I still have absolutely no idea how many shoutouts there are, so find 'em for me! Heh, can't wait to see if **_**this**_** brings in the reviews…**

**Anywho, we've still got Lancelot here, so I assume she'll want to do her little comment thingy. Go ahead!**

**Lancelot's after-chapter comments: Well, I hope you guys don't mind that it took longer than intended to post the chapter… that was mainly my fault.**

**Eh, not the most flattering or whatever you call it of comments, but fair enough. Not like I'm planning on blaming it all on you though… Anywho, enjoy! And don't forget that button down there! *Hint hint* **

**-Terra (it is possible this may be my chapter for this month- depends on proofreading and revisions, really.)**


	4. Fresh Blood

**Alright, boys and girls, children of all ages! (yeah… I'm sure there are a few of you who are younger than 13 reading this) Chapter Four's been posted, and… ug. If only I was able to cut this up. Unfortunately, there was absolutely no good spot to cut it without it sounding odd and unfinished. So as of now, The Emperor's got 7 points. C'mon guys! At least try… I don't exactly like one-sided contests. Makes for a bit of a bore, actually. (No offense, Emperor) Anywho, settle down in that chair, grab some popcorn, and…. yeah, it really is **_**that**_** long. Sorry, can't help it. Just me typing. Long rambling A/N is long. On with the story!**

Chapter 3: Fresh Blood

1 year ago

"Aw, come on!" a fourteen-year-old Luther shouted as Annabell grabbed his head from behind and snapped his neck, tossing him out of the way and opening fire on his other teammates with an assault rifle.

Annabell laughed. "You've gotta watch yourself, Luther, or else you'll get assassinated like that way more often," she replied right before one of Luther's teammates shot a grenade at her. Annabell shrugged and went into armor lock, sending the grenade straight back at them. Right before they were all blown up, Annabell could hear a string of online curses being directed at no one in particular. "That's what you get for trying to noob tube me!" she told them over her headset. After getting back to her own base without dying, she took her team's Banshee out for a spin, strafing the entire opposing team with fire. "Who's good now?" she asked as two more enemy team members fell.

"Hm. I was wondering when you were gonna get a Banshee," Luther noted.

"What was that, Luther?" Annabell asked, "You afraid of it?"

"Oh, yes. I'm oh so scared of your gigantic alien jet that can destroy- TANK MISSILE!" Luther replied, and Annabell realized what was about to happen.

"Son of a-" Annabell was cut off as a Scorpion round ripped apart the Banshee, and ended the match.

Luther laughed as he took off one of the helmets to his VR machine, which he had built more than two years ago. He placed the helmet on a table beside him as he stood up from the beanbag chair he'd placed in his room. He could see Annabell fiddling with the clasp as she struggled to stand up from the other beanbag that had been in the room. Luther began to walk over to his friend, who was still struggling with the bicycle helmet clip he'd used for the helmets. When he finally reached her, he just knelt beside her. "Hold still, Anna," he told her, gripping the strap and running his hand along it until he reached the clip, which he promptly undid. Annabell's flowing brown hair fell over her eyes, giving her the look like she'd just rolled out of bed. Ironically, from the slight noise Luther could hear from outside his room, it sounded like his sister had just gotten up at her usual early time to get ready for them to go across the street and meet up with Phineas and Ferb.

Annabell shook her head around, clearing most of the hair out of her eyes. "Well, I suppose that we ought to get presentable if we're going over to the boys' house, huh?" she asked, causing Luther to remember that they were both still in their pajamas.

"Did we actually get any sleep?" Luther asked her as he turned to take off his shirt and change into a dark blue athletic shirt and black cargo shorts. Annabell respectfully turned away as he finished changing and turned back to her.

"As far as I know, we were up playing Reach all night," Annabell replied, and this time, it was Luther's turn to look away as she switched from her pajamas into knee-high jean shorts and a purple t-shirt.

"I'm gonna hit the wall so hard," Luther muttered as he opened the door to see Isabella already dressed in a mid-thigh length sky-blue skirt and one of her usual pink t-shirts. "Morning sis," he yawned.

Isabella turned to him, seeing Annabell behind him. "Oooo, Luther," she teased, "Whatcha two doin?"

Luther raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Really, Izzy?" he asked her, "If anything, you should be getting ready to ask that to Jarv."

Annabell flushed. "Not true!" she called Luther out, "Both of you are only friends."

"Well, I mean- and no offense, Izzy- my sister and Phineas have been 'friends' for much longer than any of us have, so I wouldn't put it past Jarv to ask you out sometime in the future," Luther told her.

Isabella shook her head at this, "I'm gonna have to stick with Anna on this one. Gretchen and Jarv are pretty close. If anything, I'd guess that those two would start going out." She eyed the other pair playfully before adding, "But I'm not completely sold on the 'just friends' idea for you two, Anna. A boy and a girl. Alone in one room all night. I thought romance was a forgone conclusion."

Luther burst into a fit of laughter as they neared the stairs at this. "You just remember that when you think back to Paris," he told his sister, who growled in annoyance at the mention of the city.

"I have no idea how he's so oblivious. I sang my own _original song _right there in front of him, and nothing. I mean, seriously? Seriously?" Isabella began to stomp down the stairs ahead of the other two.

Annabell glared at Luther, who shrugged. "Was it something I said?" he joked, but Annabell kept on glaring at him, "Ok. My bad. Better go fix it, huh?" Annabell nodded.

Luther raced down the stairs after his sister, catching her just as she got into the kitchen. Their mother wasn't up yet, and Luther was a bit thankful for this, so that they could have some privacy. "Izzy?" he asked her as she walked towards the refrigerator and took out some milk, pouring it into a bowl of cereal. She walked right past her brother without a second glance and sat down at the kitchen table and was about to begin to eat. "Isabella?" Luther asked again, only earning him a particularly dark glare from his sister.

"You just _had _to mention Paris, didn't you Luther?" she spoke quietly, and Luther knew that she was very mad with him. He'd only heard that kind of volume and tone in her voice once before, and that had been when his mother had just barely contained her daughter's... abilities. Now, there was no one to limit her, except Luther, and he wasn't sure how well he could do so with his own limited knowledge of his abilities.

It was deathly quiet in the kitchen for a few seconds until one of Isabella's eyes twitched, and either Luther was going crazy, or one of the pieces of cereal had just combusted in front of him. "Isabella!" he hissed. "Don't do it. Annabell's still here!"

Isabella shrugged. "Your point?" she growled, the milk in her bowl slowly beginning to boil. "Right now, Luther, I don't exactly care." The gas burners on the stove shot up as bright orange flames leaped about two feet off the actual stove top.

Luther clenched his teeth. "Isabella," he spoke evenly, "I'd rather you didn't destroy this house. That too much to ask?" With that, he concentrated, causing a field to cut off the flames from the rest of the world before charging the field with a slight positive charge, causing all the oxygen to float to the outside of the field, cutting off the flames' supply and causing them to die out.

Isabella scowled as the fire went out. "One down, three to go," she told him as a gust of wind blew in through the window and knocked Luther flat on his back. Then the gust began to suck away, creating its own artificial vacuum around Luther. No sound could be heard as Luther tried to get his sister to stop. Isabella was too encased in rage to realize that she had made a prison for her brother which kept him from breathing, and she kept on going, the water that had been laying in the sink congealing into an odd tentacle-like construct. That same object turned from a tentacle into a sphere before drenching Luther's suffocating face. Isabella scowled as she looked at her brother, her rage all consuming now. The only thing that kept her from encasing Luther in stone was that he still needed to be around right now so that no one would suspect anything.

Isabella snapped out of her rage as soon as she saw the light that flickered in her brother's eyes. Her eyes widened as another field formed around his frame before a bright flash caused her to turn away, and loose concentration on her own ability. When she turned back, she could see that her brother was giving off a slight blue glow. He slowly walked towards her, past the doorway and over to Isabella, who stood up to apologize to him. But Luther wasn't in the mood for apologies. He grabbed Isabella by the front of her shirt, lifting her up to eye level with him. "Never. Do. That. Again," he growled sharply to her, and she could see the hand that didn't hold her was slowly glowing and he seemed to be gritting his teeth quite hard. "You have no idea how close you were to being blasted through that wall," he stated, motioning to the kitchen wall behind her as he set her down.

"Luther..." Isabella looked at him sadly, "I'm sorry, I really am."

Luther blinked and nodded to her. "I understand, Izzy," he told her, "It happens. You just gotta watch yourself, especially when you're angry. That's when your powers take control and you go out for blood."

Isabella nodded, "C'mon. Let's go see what Phineas and Ferb are doing."

Luther let out a sigh of relief and began to follow her outside, "Besides, after what just happened, I'm awake again." He turned towards the top of the stairs. "You coming, Anna?"

"Yep!" they could hear Annabell's reply as she came down the stairs. "You two better? I thought I heard some serious noise downstairs."

Both of the siblings looked at each other before Isabella replied, "We're fine, Anna. You ready to go?"

Annabell yawned, "I suppose so. I'll just be a little tired, that's all."

Luther put an arm around her shoulder, the last bit of the blue glow fading, "Don't worry, Anna. I'm sure you'll feel up to it eventually." Isabella thought she saw Annabell's eyes brighten just a bit, and she seemed to be standing just a little straighter.

The now more perky Annabell looked at the two of them just as Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro appeared at the top of the stairs, thinking deeply, like she was contemplating something. "Before we go, I think there's something we need to talk about it. All of us," she spoke, turning to Vivian as she stepped down the stairs. "To the kitchen."

Luther and Isabella both tried to protest. "Couldn't we go into the family room instead?" Luther asked Annabell, trying to keep her out of the kitchen.

"No," Annabell spoke pointedly, "We'll talk about this in the kitchen."

Luther and Isabella trudged into the kitchen, which they had hastily tried to clean up before leaving. However, there was still water on the floor from Isabella's rage, and a few of the plants had been knocked over by Luther's flash of light when he'd broken free of his sister's bonds. Annabell knelt and ran two fingers through the puddle, testing its texture between her thumb and forefinger. "Water from the sink out here?" she eyed Isabella. "I didn't think you, of all people, would be able to control water," she continued, her path taking her over to the stove top. She reached out, running her fingers through the air, clenching them a few times, "A bit of residue from a defensive barrier. Both burning natural gas and ozone. You two were quite sloppy here," she noted, looking back at the two teens, who stared at her, open-mouthed. "What? This is stuff Adyson taught me from when she was studying for the Holmesian Deduction patch you guys were able to get." Then she snapped her fingers, "Oh! I get it. You guys know I'm telling the truth. That must be why you're speechless, huh?"

Isabella tried to put on a quizzical face, "You're... insane, Annabell. Why on earth would you think we, of all people, would have any kind of special powers?"

"Izzy," Annabell looked at her, "You're a really, really bad liar." Isabella's head hung in despair. "Don't worry, though," Annabell told her, "I don't plan on telling anyone besides Adyson. We're like you, you know," the last bit was much lower in volume than the rest of her speech. "We've got powers, too." To prove this, she closed her eyes for a moment before opening up her hand to show what appeared to be... a miniature tornado. "As far as I know, I've got control of the weather. Not too much compared to you guys, but hey, at least it's something, right?" she closed up her hand, crushing the miniaturized wind storm.

No one else spoke up for almost a minute before Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro broke the silence. "Annabell," she sighed, "what you say is true. We are... different, true. As long as you stay true to your word, I have no problem with you telling your family, as long as they are who you say they are. As I have no reason to doubt you, Annabell, I will trust you with this information." Both her children looked at their mother in a bit of surprise, before she continued, "However, I'd like to speak to your mother. Would that be fine with her?"

Annabell nodded. "Of course, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro. She's certainly up by now."

The teens watched as Vivian picked up her wireless land line phone and pressed five on the speed dial, "Yes, hello? Hello, Casey. It's Vivian. We need to talk."

Annabell turned back to Isabella and Luther. "C'mon guys! Let's go see what Phineas and Ferb are doing today," she exclaimed before dragging the two along. "And one more thing: did I smell burning cereal back there?" Vivian heard her ask before the door closed behind them.

**ΩΩ**

The next few days progressed in a normal fashion as all the kids got ready for their first year of high school, which was only days away. The final summer night was most certainly the greatest of the entire summer, especially since the entire street threw a party over at the Flynn-Fletcher household. By now, Phineas and Ferb were known quite well for throwing such parties, and everyone was always invited, including some of the less-likable residents of Maple Drive, such as Irving, the resident Phineas and Ferb fanboy, or, in some cases, even his brother Albert, who was usually too busy with things at college now to be able to be around his brother too often.

Not only were the boys known for their parties, now everyone knew about their usual projects. And that meant everyone. Only this year had their mom walked into the backyard to see them building who knew what and called them down to give them a talking to. Ironically, it had turned out that just the year before, when Candace had gone off to college, the boys' sister had finally given up busting them, feeling that she could never bring her mom quick enough to catch them in the act of inventing. But by some sick twist of fate, Candace had gone out for the day while the boys built their usual contraption. When she got home, she was immediately greeted by her mother, who was just in awe of what her sons had been building all these years. Candace raised an eyebrow as her mother went into great detail on each of her brothers' projects, and how they were all amazingly impossible. At some point, Candace had had to place a hand on her mother's shoulder and say, "Mom, I know. I was there," which nearly caused her mom to break down when apologizing to her. Candace had merely taken it in stride and accepted her mother's apology before heading out to the backyard and calling, "I told you so," over her shoulder.

Though Phineas' awareness for many things had increased, like how he had gotten much more street smart (so much so that now he could _actually _pull off a slight street attitude) after those weekends he'd spent with the guys running around in the downtown area, there were certain things to which he was still oblivious, such as the crush his best friend still had on him. Sure, he'd danced with her, but that was because she was there while the group was at some kind of school dance or party. The two had never gone to a dance alone and just danced together.

Ferb had decided that it was much too annoying to try and get people to understand what he said just by looking at them, and so he was now talking just a little more. He would never hold a drawn out conversation with anyone except Phineas, but he was more likely to comment on something now. Conversely, Phineas, seeing that his brother spoke more, spoke slightly less so as to give his brother some time to respond to other people in a conversation. There were a few times where he'd still playfully interrupt the Brit when he tried to say something, but it was always in good humor, never with any kind of malicious motives.

Isabella hadn't stopped with her hints and flat-out advances towards Phineas, who still didn't notice any of it. She still had that sweet, innocent little attitude she had when they were younger, but by now, if someone messed with her or her friends, she was quick to protect them. Her attitude towards protecting her friends would always trump her common sense, though, and it usually meant that someone would have to hold her back from rushing into something she couldn't handle. Though she could no longer be in the Fireside Girls, she and her troop had still stayed close, and she knew she could call upon any of them should she need any kind of help. Isabella's best friend from her troop, Adyson, was also sometimes her worst enemy. The two were complete opposites in attitude, with Adyson much more cynical of life than her former troop leader.

Adyson herself had become much more of a participant in the boys' day-to-day activities, and was sometimes even there when Isabella wasn't. She would usually help out with the things Isabella would usually do, although Phineas had to admit to her one day that she just couldn't pull off Isabella's catchphrase like the actual thing. To this, Adyson had to agree. She personally felt it was a bit much to be saying every day to someone she didn't have an enduring childhood crush on, and so that had been the end of that. Recently, she'd taken an interest in vehicles, and had been studying up on them for some time now. She had gotten so good that, with the right tools and the correct beat on, she could disassemble and reassemble an engine block in almost as much time as it took Phineas and Ferb themselves. In one of the final days of summer, she had finally gotten the courage to talk to Buford about a much-avoided subject between the two friends: romance. No one, not even Jarv or Annabell, knew about what had happened during that time, but when the two had come out of the room, Adyson had a dreamy smile on her face, and Buford was grinning pretty widely too. The next day they announced that they'd gotten together, which was greeted with much squealing from the girls and quite a few slaps on the back from the guys.

Buford hadn't exactly changed over the two years since the kids had met Jarv. He still had his same, rather brutish attitude that he kept up, but now that he had Adyson beside him most of the time, his sensitive side started to show through just a little bit. He never really intended for it to happen, but perhaps it was for the better, since he hurt less feelings, was less the comic relief, and was more of an actual member of the gang, rather than the subdued neighborhood bully who followed the group around. He was still technically the meanest of the group, but here, mean was a relative term, seeing as most of the members were much nicer than the average person. There were only a few who gave Buford a run for his money in that area, namely his brother, Jarv, and sometimes Luther. Although, when someone really annoyed Ferb, everyone knew to stay well back from him. Buford, who had been considered "fat" when he was younger, had been working out quite a bit, giving him a much tougher look than even Ferb when the Brit got angry. Buford was mostly considered a loose cannon, however, Adyson, by some superhuman feat, could usually mellow him down when he showed signs of beginning to get out of hand. His fierce loyalty to the group meant that if anyone messed with his friends, even Isabella and the other girls, they were messing with him too, which most people seemed afraid to do after seeing anger on his face. He was more of a heavy lifter than anything else for the most part, even so, his burly hands were still quite good with detailed work. His one flaw was mostly that he still had trouble with some academic work, but he had Baljeet there to help him out with that, not to mention the rest of the group.

Baljeet had, unfortunately, been drifting further and further away from the group as the years progressed due to his and his parents' mutual wishes for a better education. The young Indian teen would still try his best to stop by every now and then to help out, but besides that, he hardly ever was able to come over anymore. He most certainly did not want to lose any of his friends, and he made it a point to come to any party that the boys either hosted or invited him to. Both he and the boys had voiced their hopes that high school would bring them back together again, and for once, Phineas couldn't wait for school so that he could see the friends that were not in his immediate circle. Baljeet had not severed all ties to the group though. It was heard at one point that Buford, Ginger, and Adyson had all been paying him visits daily when they heard he had gotten sick. By now, he had learned of Ginger's crush on him, and the two had gotten together near the beginning of the summer between middle and high school. The rest of the gang knew that if Buford wasn't working his butt off helping Phineas and Ferb out, he was either with Adyson or he was getting one of his lessons from Baljeet, which varied from math to history to science and even some language lessons. Baljeet had joked at one point that by the time he was finished with Buford, he would be "nearly as smart as the chair I'm sitting in", to which Buford promptly engaged the recliner function to the special chair, sending Baljeet flying across the room as the ejector seat returned to its original position, which Buford then sat down in.

Those final days of summer had been spent by many of them preparing for the new school year, including the boys. It felt odd to everyone on Maple Drive that they did not hear the usual sounds of construction, though it made sense. However, the boys surprised their friends two days before the new school with "artificial backpacks", or small storage devices with shrink rays on them. With this, Phineas told them, they could just keep everything they'd need in their pocket the entire school day and pull things out as needed. The entire gang was quite grateful to them for this, as it meant no straining their backs throughout the school year.

Of course, then there were class schedules. Both Phineas and Ferb were in eleventh grade math, engineering courses, the mandatory ninth grade English class, an advanced chemistry course, the usual world history class, and of course, PE. The others had similar schedules, but almost everyone else was in ninth grade math and was taking whatever other sciences there were, not such a high chemistry course. Only two people were anywhere near the levels Phineas and Ferb were: Luther, who was in the tenth grade level math, their engineering class, and a slightly lower chemistry course, but in a higher history course, and Baljeet, who was in the same level math and science as the two boys.

So it had been interesting for them all when they'd met at the bus stop before the first day of school and began to compare schedules. There were actually no classes that someone didn't have at least one of the others present there, so they all felt it would be a good year. And of course, then they stepped onto the bus to be greeted by squealing girls. Luther playfully called it "the curse of the fangirls", which ignited a wave of laughter from everyone except Ferb, who merely snorted in amusement.

**ΩΩ**

As soon as Phineas and Ferb walked into the school, they were automatically swamped with a tide of squealing "fangirls", as Luther had called them. The two fourteen year olds struggled to get through the wall of people and reach their lockers until Buford made it inside too. "OUTTA MY WAY!" he shouted at the group around the two inventors, who immediately parted before the large teen. On his left was Adyson and on his right was Jarv, with Luther, Isabella, and the others right behind them. A mere second passed before Buford reached Phineas and Ferb and hauled the two behind him, between his back and Isabella. "On three, we run as fast as we can," Buford grinned at the redhead, who grinned back and nodded. All right, guys," he whispered to Adyson, who relayed the message down the line. "One..." he began to walk towards the outer edge of the group, which parted before him. "Two..." he kept on going, reaching the far edge of the group. Beyond it, he could see relatively clear hallways leading out to the actual school campus, a sprawling field with buildings scattered around it. "THREE!" he shouted, and they all sprinted away, only to be followed once again by their "fans".

Phineas and Ferb had already pulled even with Buford. "This isn't working!" he shouted, "We'll need to split up. I'll take Isabella, Jarv, you get Gretchen, Baljeet's already got Ginger, you and Adyson can go together, Luther, get Annabell, and Ferb... get whoever you can!" Phineas pointed to the upcoming building, "Ferb! You, Buford, Luther, and Jarv all get inside there! We'll find another way. See ya in first period classes!"

"Got it!" Buford replied before grabbing Adyson's hand and steering her towards the building. As soon as they were close enough, Phineas, Isabella, some of the other guys, and the rest of the Fireside Girls cut to the left of the building, with the rest of them screeching to a halt in front of the doors as Buford wrenched them open and charged in.

Buford motioned for them to split up into pairs, to which Jarv joked, "What are we gonna do, Buford? Search for clues?" However, they all did so anyway. Ferb was eventually left in the main hall just as the mob that had been chasing them ran through the doorway.

One of the girls spotted him, "IT'S FERB!"

"Bloody hell," Ferb cursed quietly, before turning and sprinting down the hall and turning the corner. He came to a hall that had quite a few people in it, all looking up from what they were doing to see the green-haired boy standing at the entrance of the hall. Some looked up from what they were doing at him, but most paid him no attention. Some people actually grimaced when they heard the squealing of the fangirls. There were many comments said, none of them nice. Ferb figured he'd stumbled upon the upperclassmen, the sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

One of the girls by a locker walked up to him, her dark brown hair coming down to around her shoulder blades. "You need some help?" she laughed as he nodded furiously. "C'mon then," she motioned with a tanned hand, her grey eyes reflecting light from the fluorescent lighting the building had. "Hey, Lisa!" the girl called to another who was leaning up against the wall, "You wanna help the new kid?"

The girl, Lisa, looked up from the book she held, her bespectacled brown eyes thrown into shadow by the brown fedora she wore. "I suppose so," she sighed, and put down the book before walking up to Ferb. "There are two ways we can do this, but either way, you'll be hidden," she told him before grabbing him by the front of the t-shirt, which happened to have the union jack on the front. "British, eh?" she asked as she dragged him over to the wall. "Hey, Sienna!" she called to her friend, "get this door open!"

Sienna opened the door to a locker, and Ferb had just enough time to wonder what was happening before he was shoved into the locker, just barely fitting. "Now just stay still and shut up," the girl, Lisa, told him, and leaned against the door as the screaming horde of fangirls rumbled past them. Ferb waited a few minutes before he felt the cool air on his back, and backed out of the locker he'd been unceremoniously shoved into. He stood up to full height, a few inches taller than Lisa, and gave her a cold look. She merely shrugged, "Hey, you got away from them, didn't you?"

Ferb sighed. "Fair enough," he replied.

Lisa laughed, "See, Sienna? I told you he was British!"

Sienna replied, "And I doubted you, O great and mighty Vastile?"

Ferb snorted. Though the two girls were close to the same age as he was, they were acting about as mature as his little brother. At his noise, the two girls whipped around to look at him. "Well, well," Lisa grinned, "Someone has a sense of humor, now doesn't he?" Before he could reply, she changed subjects entirely. "Seeing as you don't seem to know your way around here very well, you mind if we give you at tour, show you the ropes, stuff like that?"

Ferb was rather surprised by this. Not only had he just met these people, but they had both saved him (granted, it wasn't life-threatening, but they _were_ fangirls, so you never knew) and were offering him and his friends a tour of the school. He felt a bit suspicious, but not enough to be worried. What was the worst that could happen? He nodded.

"Great!" Sienna replied before Lisa, which seemed to annoy the girl, "You just bring any of your friends around here at lunch, and Indie and I can show you around!"

Ferb snorted again as the girls walked away, Lisa telling Sienna, "Don't EVER call me that again."

"Sure thing, _Indie_," he could hear Lisa curse as they turned the corner and were out of sight.

**ΩΩ**

Adyson and Buford had taken refuge in a classroom as the horde of fangirls rumbled past them, screaming Ferb's name. "You got a plan if they come after us?" Adyson asked, staying beside Buford, grinning slightly.

"Actually, I do," Buford replied, "But I can't tell you unless we have to use it."

Adyson crossed her arms, "Fine."

At that exact moment, someone began to jiggle the handle to the door, trying to get in. "Looks like you're about to find out," Buford grinned at her, and, right as the door opened, he kissed Adyson. Adyson, not realizing what she was doing, immediately deepened this until they heard a familiar voice.

"Perhaps we should give your sister some alone time," Luther chuckled. Annabell just looked away.

"Aw, Adyson! I don't need to see that!" Annabell cried. Adyson pulled away, her face bright red. Buford's, however, was a much deeper shade of red.

"I'm just glad Jarv didn't see that," he mumbled.

"Think again, brother," Jarv replied, stepping into their view. "And I'm thinking there's going to be a convenient visit from a certain Adyson later tonight, right?" he winked at his brother.

"I'm about to come over there and pummel ya, Jarv," Buford grinned good-naturedly back at him.

"If you all are done with whatever you were doing," Ferb surprised the entire group as he came from behind them, "we ought to get going before those fangirls come back around. Plus the first period bell's gonna ring eventually. We should at least make an effort to find our classrooms without sprinting through the halls."

"Well you're chatty today, now aren't you?" Luther got a cold look from the Brit. "Kidding, kidding. However, you are right, we ought to look for those classrooms. It shouldn't be too bad since your brother and my sister have the entire freshman class on their heels."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Gretchen asked. "Let's go!"

And right before they got out the door, they could hear someone shout, "IT'S FERB!"

Buford, Jarv and Luther all cursed. "You gotta be kidding me," Buford growled as they broke out into yet another sprint, this time heading out the building to the open courtyard.

**ΩΩ**

Three boys were climbing through the underbrush as they climbed up the slope that ended with their high school at the top. The first boy had dark sunglasses on, and a walking stick was hung across his back. He was the tallest of the three, a pale, lanky, sand-haired boy, who was said to be ultra perceptive, even with his lack of sight. He demonstrated this by pushing back a tree branch with his hand that would have hit any other boy without sight in the face. He was also able to pull up his foot right before it got stuck in what looked like a snake hole, something anyone else like him would not have been able to do.

Right behind this boy was the shortest of the three, but the most muscular. His tan skin contrasted quite a bit with his companion's pale version. He was the shortest of the three, but looked as though he could lift a tree out of the ground. Many a school bully had underestimated his muscle as fat, and they had paid dearly for it. The boy was also considered the most violent of the three, and the final boy, his brother, was usually an object of protection, though that same boy insisted he could protect himself. He brushed his light brown hair out of his eyes as some of it fell in his eyes before turning to check up on the final boy in the group.

The third and final boy was of average height, in between his two companions. His hair was darker than the large boy in front of him, and it was also cut shorter than said hair. His skin had a slight tan color to it, and he would have been considered neither strong nor weak, neither fast nor slow. He was just an average sophomore in this school, and no one paid him too much attention.

Their reverie was cut when the large boy called out, "Argus, I still don't understand why we go this way every day. There is a path, you know."

Argus turned around, looking straight at the speaker. "Tom, we've been over this over a thousand times. We do this because it's much more fun than taking just a path. Plus, we're already halfway there. So quit itching and let's go."

The final boy laughed at the two. "This never gets old," he chuckled as Tom looked back at him.

"What was that, Metalleas?" he asked, "You calling me funny?"

"No, no I wasn't," the boy, Metalleas grinned widely.

"Whatever," Tom turned back to climbing the hill, which had steepened the higher they climbed.

Finally, the trio reached a clearing behind the school's main buildings. For whatever reason, squeals of what sounded like delight could be heard coming from the courtyard that was the center of the school campus. Argus muttered something about someone sparing the subjects of the squealing, and then turned to unstrap his walking stick from his back. Tom sat down a tree stump, brushing off the sawdust from his jacket and clothes. Metalleas leaned against one of the upright trees that formed a ring around the clearing, catching his breath after the lengthy climb. Towards the direction of their school, the path Tom spoke of could be seen leading towards the nearest building.

Metalleas was the first to realize they weren't alone, which surprised him. Argus was usually the one who could sense people that were coming towards them up to a mile away. "Hello, ladies," Metalleas greeted the newcomers, "and gentlemen," he added quickly as he saw one of the newcomers was male.

"Primary targets located," Sienna whispered into her skin-colored comm link. "I've got Delta with me and preparing to engage. Permission to do so?"

"What was that?" Tom asked her, making Sienna look at him.

"Oh, nothing," she smiled sweetly at him.

_That's a negative, Sigma, _Lawr's voice sounded off in her head, making Sienna curse her memory. Before the team had left the Agency, they'd been implanted with neural links that allowed them to have team telepathy, which basically meant they could speak to the rest of the team without speaking at all. _Wait for me to give the okay. Epsilon is almost in position._

_Scratch that, Epsilon _is _in position, _Kelly's voice came through Sienna's mind, and she motioned for Siegfried to step forward.

_Permission to reveal cover, Alpha? _Sienna asked her leader.

_Permission granted, Sigma, _Lawr replied. _Epsilon, be ready to get them if they don't cooperate._

_Roger that, Alpha, _Kelly could be heard replying.

"So..." Sienna smiled at Tom, "How you guys liking your powers?"

Metalleas stood up suddenly, "What?"

Siegfried laughed, "Give up the charade, _boy_. We know what you are. You're supers."

Argus turned to his friends, "I'm blind."

Tom snorted, "What a surprise."

Argus shook his head, "No, I'm literally blind. They know, guys. They've deactivated my abilities!"

A deep laugh answered Argus. "That we did, little one," Clancy stepped out of the shadows, wearing chain mail gloves, "that we did." Before he could say anything else, a blast of lightning shot out of one of his hands and impacted on Argus' back, knocking him over and sliding him at least ten feet along the pine straw that covered the dirt of the clearing. He tried to lift himself up off the ground, but Clancy pulled off a glove and slammed an open palm into the back of his head, sending his face back into the ground. Argus collapsed and didn't get back up.

"Argus!" Tom cried and tried to reach his friend before two boys who looked exactly alike grabbed him, one on each arm, restraining him.

"Taylan!" Sienna shouted at him, "You were supposed to wait!"

"You know I can't stay in one spot that long. And besides, I am still over there," Sienna glanced behind her to see Taylan wave at her.

The two Taylans holding Tom glowed just a bit, and the one holding Tom's right arm split into a third one in the clearing. Tom was too surprised to realize what was going to happen until the third Taylan grabbed ahold of his shoulders, absorbed the other two restraining him, and pulled his head back.

"Nightie-night," Taylan told him as his forehead cracked into Tom's own, knocking him out like a light.

Metalleas, seeing his friends downed, turned to run, only to have Taylan split once more, surrounding him. Metalleas growled in anger, and turned to punch one of the copies of the Russian teen. Taylan caught the fist, but he could already hear Siegfried as he shouted, "He's drawing upon too much power! I can't restrain him much longer!"

Taylan's copies melded back into the one holding Metalleas' fist and began to squeeze as Metalleas pushed harder, trying his best to break through the limiter barrier Siegfried seemed to have on him. Somehow, he was able to do so, and the punch's full force sent Taylan's copy smashing halfway through a two-hundred-year-old oak tree behind him. The copy dissipated as soon as it had stopped its motion, and Taylan could be seen trying his best to control his breathing as the energy he'd been absorbing from the tree beside him flowed back out and into the monstrous maple. Then Metalleas ran as fast as he could, pushing past the others and making it out of the clearing.

"Kelly, take him out!" Sienna shouted, and almost immediately, a red feather appeared on Metalleas' neck. The boy gasped as the tranquilizer flooded his system, and passed out within a few seconds. Sienna carefully stepped over to him, kneeling beside him and checking his pulse before slinging him over her shoulder and bringing him back over. "You guys all right?" she asked Siegfried and Clancy as they joined up next to her. Kelly had climbed down the tree trunk she'd been perched on, and was helping support Taylan as he walked forward, a bit weak from the energy drain.

"From the looks of it, we're fine," Clancy noted as he took out a cell phone and pressed the call button. "Hello?" the rest of the team could hear someone at the other end of the phone. "What? No! Yeah, we've got some of them... Well, we couldn't get all of them at once! Right. Okay. From what I've heard, though, Vastile has infiltrated there, so... What do you mean, oh great? We've got Beta with the Alpha targets, of course that's great! Oh... I see... Sorry, sir. Yes, sir. Very good, sir. We just need some kind of transport to pick the targets up, that's all I'm asking for. Mm-hm... What do you mean, the Director won't allow it? We're on his mission! Gamma Papa. That's right. Understood. Goodbye," he ended the call and put the phone back into his pocket. "We should have agents here momentarily to pick them up."

Just as he finished saying this, two men dressed in full business suits stepped out of the foliage, one brushing off leaves from his jacket. "Alpha Strike Force," the first agent noted, "You have done well. The Director will most certainly be pleased."

"And that's all we need," Clancy grinned. "Gotta please the Director, right?"

The second agent snorted, "Sarcasm is not the best way to reply to compliments, Gamma."

The first agent waved his hand dismissively at the group. "As you were. We'll take it from here."

Sienna nodded. "We thank you," she replied, before leading the others away, "C'mon guys. Let's get back to school. It's almost started."

_You better hurry, Sienna_, Lisa's voice could be heard_, The beginning bell just rang, and I don't know what I'd do without the oh-so important Sienna Sharben in my Civics class. It's rather funny, the stuff they're gonna try and teach us about Civics... _Lisa kept going, but Sienna and the others were already running back towards the school building, even as they heard the noise of the bells carry down to their current position.

**ΩΩ**

The first half of the gang's day progressed quite simply: the teachers, introduced themselves, called role, and then proceeded to hand out papers where the students had to fill out their personal information for that class. This was repeated four different times for each of the members of the gang before their lunch session, where Ferb had circulated the news about the tour to everyone he could get ahold of.

Phineas was having the time of his life in Engineering I before the bell rang, signaling the lunch period. Not only had Ferb, Luther, and himself been allowed free reign over the blueprints, but also some of the materials that lay around the classroom. The only incident had been when Phineas had instructed Ferb to take a look at a black box under one of the tables nearby. It had not ended well for the trio when the teacher realized that they were about to dismantle his personal desktop computer. But besides that, the three boys had been just tinkering around with a few tools and supplies. Phineas had drawn up some blueprints for future inventions, which had impressed all the others, including the teacher, but that had been about it. Nevertheless, the redheaded boy was on cloud nine due to the fact that he could invent and build to his heart's content, even at school. Luther and Ferb were both quite glad they would actually have something to do, but no one was happier than Phineas.

"Who's next?" Phineas asked Luther, who held a copy of everyone's schedules at the moment.

"Adyson in Auto tech," Luther replied, steering the boys sharply to the left as they neared a garage.

The three entered the garage only to see it completely vacated, a few cars up on jacks, and a few more raised even higher so that someone could walk beneath the car to examine its underside. Phineas, Ferb, and Luther all looked around for their friend, but the only thing that they could see of her was her backpack laying beside the teacher's desk. Apparently the teacher had already gone to the cafeteria, seeing as he'd left a note on his desk. There was no sign of the girl they'd come to get, and they had just about left until they heard the humming coming from under the 2010 Camaro that was on the other side of the garage.

"We live in a cold, dark world, with venom in its fangs. You can spit it in my face, but I know I'll be okay..." the boys moved closer to the two legs sticking out from under the Camaro, one tapping a beat to the song she was listening to. "It's on the attack, it's a war, it's a game. A ball and chain, chew my arm off to get away. Don't fight it, invite it," the body began to move out from under the car, that foot still tapping. As the rest of the body appeared, the boys registered two black converse shoes, oil-stained knee-length jeans, and a bit of a red t-shirt, along with a slight patch of skin between the shirt and jeans. "Cause when it feels like a kick in the teeth I can take it-" Adyson stopped and pulled out the earphones when she noticed that the three boys staring at her. "What?" she smirked, "Easy there, boys. I've already got a boyfriend."

Phineas' eyes widened. "What- No! We were just- came over here- Ug... I can't even form a full sentence right now," the final bit of his statement mumbled to himself. Ferb snorted at the statement, and Luther let out a bark of laughter.

"Just come with us, Adyson," Luther grinned.

Adyson returned the grin before walking over to her backpack and picking it up. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go meet Ferb's girlfriend."

Ferb growled in annoyance, "For the umpteenth time, she is most certainly _not_ my girlfriend. I only met her today."

"That is, after he let someone he never met shove him into a locker," Luther half-smiled as Adyson kept going, "If there hadn't been anyone else there, who's to say the mighty Ferb wouldn't have gone for a conquest?"

Another person's laughter alerted the group they'd been joined by others. "She does have a point, you know," Isabella giggled as she and Annabell walked up to the group. "Aw. come on, Ferb! You know we're kidding!" she added as he turned his stare onto her.

Phineas finally regained his composure. "Either way," he told them, "we still have to find the others before we go meet this 'Lisa' you met, Ferb."

"Or, it is possible that they could also find you, Phineas," Everyone turned to see Baljeet, Buford, Jarv, and the remaining Fireside Girls walking up to them.

"So," Buford growled, "When's this 'tour' start? Buford hungry."

"Whenever you like," the entire group turned to see Lisa leaning up against the wall. She nodded to them, "You guys ready?"

"How long have you been there?" Annabell asked her.

"Long enough," Lisa replied, "And that joke was rather amusing, Adyson, I believe it is?"

Adyson eyed the girl, "Heh. Sorry."

Lisa waved it away. "Don't worry about it," she told Adyson, "It's not like that actually hurt, anyway. Now, let's get going." She led them out of the garage, which they had still been in for whatever reason.

"As you can see," Lisa explained, "That was the D building. That has most of the more physical and educational classes, like Auto Tech, Engineering, Architecture, Woodworking, stuff like that." They walked by the four-story building, its shape towering above them. "And before you say anything," Lisa added, "the district doesn't plan on making it any different any time soon."

Phineas tried to protest, "But it could be so much cooler if they just let us-"

"Doesn't matter. They were quite adamant about it at the recent school board meeting. No redesigning, especially not by you guys," Lisa interrupted. They came up on a two story building, a few masks and whatnot painted on the concrete walls. "This is the E building. It's got the auditorium and concert hall fit into one. This'll be for any of you interested in the Band, Orchestra, or Theatre classes. Any of you in any of them?" She was greeted by the hands of many of the girls, including Isabella, Annabell, and the majority of the Fireside Girls. "Then this is where you'll be," she pointed at it. "Any of you in Band or Orchestra?" No one raised their hands. "Really?"

"We prefer to make our own music," Phineas replied.

"Fair enough," Lisa answered, turning back to the courtyard and led them towards the next building.

"Hey," Luther asked her, "Any reason why the school's set up the way it is?"

"You mean the ring of buildings around a large courtyard?" Lisa kept walking. "Not really. As you guys probably know, this school was built a while back. You could always ask some of the heads of the student body about it, though I'm not sure how interested they'd be to answer questions from Freshmen."

"Why not?" Phineas asked, "I've met the student body president, and he was quite nice to me. His vice president-"

"I'm not talking about the president or the vice president," Lisa cut him off. "You really think they're in control of the student body?"

"Well then who would be?" Isabella asked.

"That's what I was going to show you," Lisa replied. "Now this is the C building. Anyone in a language class'll be going here," she motioned to the one-story building, "We've got Spanish, French, German, Italian, Latin, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean in there, so we've got quite a bit of the world languages covered." The group kept on going and passed the B building, which consisted of the cafeteria and the gyms, and the A building, which housed the main classes and the variants of English, Science, Math, and all kinds of Social Studies. "So you guys know which buildings you'll need to go to now?" Lisa asked, seeing everyone nod. "Good," she turned around to actually look at them for the first time in the tour. "Let's go meet the heads of the student body."

"Buford don't think they're that bad," Buford cracked his knuckles.

Lisa chuckled. "You'd be surprised, kid. There are a few of them who could easily beat you black and blue without receiving a bruise themselves." The gang looked at her, "Ok, so I'm probably exaggerating, but still. There are some people who could beat even you up, Buford."

Buford nodded. "There's always a bigger fish," he agreed.

Lisa kept leading them out to the courtyard. "Ferb here already knows Sienna, but I'll still introduce her to everyone," she told them as they walked up to a metal table, a group of eight sophomores sitting around it. "Hey guys, could I borrow Sienna?" she asked them, and they all looked up.

The girl Ferb remembered from earlier stood up, "I'll be back," she told them, inciting a few snickers from the way she said it. "So Lisa," Sienna walked up to the group, "Giving the Freshmen a tour now are we?"

Phineas butted in, "Yes, yes she is."

Sienna turned her head to the younger boy. "So you're the famous Phineas Flynn. Hm..." she noted before pausing for a moment.

"What?" the redhead asked.

"I thought you'd be taller," Sienna finished and turned back to Lisa. "So Indie," she grinned as she heard her friend growl, "what did you need me for?"

"You'll be coming with us," Lisa answered before grabbing Sienna by the sleeve, "Now come on."

Sienna shook her arm out of Lisa's grasp, "What, the Freshmen annoying you too much and you needed someone to vent at?" she grinned as Lisa spun around at her.

"Eventually," Lisa replied before turning back around and leading them into the A building. They stopped just inside the doorway as a group of student athletes walked by, one of the largest boys at the head of the group. He was obviously their leader, and he wore a black athletic shirt with a silver lightning bolt across the front, black athletic pants, and dark grey running shoes. He was quite streamlined, and his steel-blue eyes gave him a bit of an odd look. His light brown hair was cut short, and his entire body seemed to bulge just a little bit with muscle. A quick glance from those eyes silenced the entire group, who had been murmuring quietly to each other. For whatever reason, Katie seemed to hold the boy's gaze longer than the others, and she thought she saw a small smile cross his features before going away.

After the group had left, Lisa turned to the gang. "That," she told them, "was the one of the heads of the student body. He's the leader of the jocks and other student athletes. Or at least the popular ones."

"Who was he?" Katie asked, still seemingly starstruck by the boy.

"Easy, there, girl," Sienna placed a hand on her shoulder, "No offense, but he wouldn't go for you any day. Heck, I'm not sure he'd go for any of the girls here, Lisa and I included."

Katie hung her head as Lisa answered, "That was Taylan Reznov. Russian, smart, and strong. Not someone you usually talk to unless he 'approves' of you."

Phineas nodded, "So he's part of the head of the student body?"

Lisa nodded. "One of the five."

"There are four others?" Luther asked. "And I thought the cliques faded away when you got out of middle school."

Sienna chuckled, "Looks like someone passed fourth grade math. Of course there are four others. Why else would she tell you there were five to begin with?"

They made their way through the halls, the gang surprised at how all the freshmen girls who had been chasing them earlier now shied away from them as Lisa led the way. The farther they went in, the fewer freshmen were around. By the time Lisa stopped them, none of the kids in the group recognized anyone around them.

Lisa pushed them against the wall. "Stay still, all of you," she whispered, "You don't want Clancy to see you." She motioned to a larger boy across the hall, in an alcove, who held another boy by the shirt.

"That's Clancy, the school bully?" Buford asked, "He don't look so tough to me."

Just then, the boy who had been holding the victim turned around to face a much larger boy, who took the victim before pushing the smaller boy out of the way with what seemed to be the simplest of gestures. Lisa grinned. "That," she pointed at the larger guy, who was just as wide as Buford and a few inches taller, "is Clancy Palack."

The boy that stood across the hall from them looked around, checking to see if he could spot the one who had said his name. As he stepped out of the darkness to take a better look, the kids could see what he actually looked like. He wore a black leather jacket, with a blue t-shirt that seemed to have the Guns 'n Roses icon on it, along with some regular-looking jeans, which could have belonged to a professional mechanic. Brown eyes scanned the relatively small space for the speaker, black hair nearly blending into the darkness from which he had emerged. The tanned boy, Clancy, having found nothing in the ways of a person who had spoken his name, turned back to the darkness and back to the unfortunate victim that he held in his grasp.

Lisa motioned for the group to follow her. "Let's go before he decides to actually look," she whispered.

"What about the kid over there?" Phineas asked, "Isn't there any way to help him?"

Lisa shook her head, "Phineas, things like this happen all the time. There isn't anything you can do to stop them, so why not just let nature run it's course?"

"I suppose so," Phineas nodded, and he fell into step behind the others.

Isabella put a comforting arm around him, "Phineas, I'm sure that whoever it was, they'll be fine, albeit a bit of bruising."

Sienna snickered. "You guys can hope. Clancy doesn't show too much mercy unless there's something that he can get out of it."

Ferb looked back, and said his first words for that day, "Well then, we can only hope that whoever that poor soul is, he's got something that'll give Clancy something to consider."

Luther nodded, "Well said, Ferb."

They left the hall, passing through a few random groups of upperclassmen, before turning the corner and going off to see the next "head of the student body" Lisa spoke of.

**ΩΩ**

Clancy held the young freshman by the collar of his shirt, the younger boy cowering in fear as the notorious school bully pulled his fist back to slam it between the boy's eyes. The fist came down, but stopped mere inches before the boy's nose. Clancy grinned widely as the boy let out a girlish squeal, his eyes clenched shut, still awaiting his relative doom. Instead, Clancy grabbed him by the orange hair and pulled his head back, exposing the Adam's apple of the freshman.

"Answer the questions or my next punch is going there," Clancy growled at the boy, who whimpered like a whipped dog. "You're name Irving?"

"Well, actually my full name is Irving-" Irving was cut off as a fist crashed into the area around the center of his collarbone.

"It's a yes or no question, kid," Clancy grinned as he dropped the boy to the ground, who fell onto his hands and knees and gasped for air. "A yes or no is all I need."

Irving finally gained control of his breathing, and looked up at the figure towering over him. "Yes, my name is Irving."

Clancy grinned, "See? That wasn't so hard now was it?"

Irving tried to glare a him, but it looked pitiful in his current position.

"I'll make this as simple and," Clancy paused to emphasize the next word, "painless as possible. Just a few requests to make."

"Oh?" Irving asked, trying to get up, "Did you want to be in the Phineas and Ferb fan club?"

Clancy let out a hearty laugh, which was echoed by his underlings that were observing the incident. "Not exactly."

Irving raised an eyebrow quizzically as Clancy helped him up. "What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked.

"I merely require a rather simple task from you, Irving," Clancy told him, "Something you already do anyway."

"Really?" Irving seemed quite intrigued by now. "What would you want me to do?"

Clancy motioned for the others surrounding them to disperse, which they did quickly. "All I need you to do," Clancy told Irving quietly, "Is have your little 'fan club' report to me. I want anything and everything you can get on all the members of that group of freshmen. Everything."

"That's it?" Irving asked. "You just want me to give you my intel reports on Phineas and Ferb?"

Clancy nodded. "That's it, Irving," he answered. "I'm working with a few others on a... documentation project, and the boys will be glad to know that they'll be a large part of the project. That is, when _I _surprise them. I don't want you telling them about this, Irving. Can I count on you?"

"Of course!" Irving replied.

"Good," Clancy grinned. "Every Monday morning, I want you to come by with a weekly intel report to me for the boys. If I need you any other time, I'll know where to find you. Now, off you go." He pushed Irving a little bit. "Oh, Irving. One last thing before you go," Clancy told him.

"What's that?" Irving asked.

"Well, obviously I can't just let you get off Scott free," Clancy told him. "Don't want anyone to think I'm getting soft. So I'd suggest you take off your glasses."

Irving did so. "Why do I need to-" he was cut off as a fist slammed into his left eye.

"There you go," Clancy told him, "Now, on your way." He shoved Irving towards the exit of the hallway.

As Irving exited the hallway, he sighed, "Some things never change for my first days of school." He grinned at one of the sophomore girls who noticed him before pulling out a list. "Let's see..." he took out a pen. "Spy on Phineas and Ferb: Check. Go meet the local bully: Check. Get a black eye from the bully: Check. If left eye, remember to mark down another tally for the streak so far. Soon to be checked."

**ΩΩ**

The gang progressed past the more shady halls of the A building, apparently searching for a specific person. Lisa was at the head of the group, with Ferb and Sienna right behind her. Behind them were Adyson, Buford, Jarv, Baljeet, and the assorted former Fireside Girls. Bringing up the rear were Phineas, Luther, Isabella, and Annabell. There was barely any talking besides the whisperings of some of the people in the middle of the group.

Their silent reverie was broken when Lisa spoke in a normal volume, startling everyone. "Our next stop is just inside this room," she told them, before leading them into the classroom, where there was a crowd surrounding two players on a chessboard.

No one could really tell too much about the actual game being played until there was an elated shout from the crowd, and the winner stood up, his hands held high by members of the crowd. "Anyone else?" the winner could be heard shouting. "I'd like to see if there's anyone who can put me in 'mate!"

"That's Daniel Siegfried," Lisa told the group. "Arguably the smartest kid in the school. Always comes out top of the class, and can defeat anyone in any puzzle game. His specialty is chess, and he was scheduled to play that IBM supercomputer some time next year."

Baljeet could already be seen sizing up his opponent. "I shall accept your challenge!" he shouted at Siegfried.

The crowd suddenly froze and all turned to see Baljeet. Siegfried shook his arms away from the two people holding them and stepped forward, his cane twirling over his shoulder. "You brought me new meat, Lisa?" he grinned, adjusting the Yankees cap that sat atop his head.

Lisa chuckled as Siegfried smoothed the wrinkles on his black, button-down dress shirt, "More so a tour of the school, but since the boy seems to like you, I guess you could say that."

Siegfried grinned as he stepped over to Isabella before taking her hand in his and kissing it, "Buenos días, señora hermosa, ¿en qué puedo servirle a usted?"

Isabella giggled, "No hay necesidad de tales acciones, buen señor. Estoy perfectamente bien sin ninguna ayuda. Pero le doy las gracias de todos modos."

Siegfried nodded and took a step back, "Perdóneme, pues, Señora. Tal vez mis acciones eran demasiado audaz para su gusto?"

Isabella smiled sweetly at him, "Todo está perdonado, Siegfried. Como puede ver, creo que será muy bien con estos otros. Si _alguien_ sólo obtendría la pista ..."

Siegfried could see her eyes motion towards Phineas, who was standing beside her, looking at him, shocked. Siegfried patted his shoulder, "No worries, hombre. I don't plan on stealing her away from you," he grinned at Isabella, who gave him the evil eye before giving way to a smile.

Phineas turned to Isabella, "What just happened?"

Isabella looked at him and answered, "Perhaps it's better you not know," before grinning like an idiot at Phineas' bewildered expression.

Siegfried walked back up to Baljeet. "So, you wish to play me in a game of chess? Or, as some of my ancestors would call it, Schach?" he asked the young Indian.

"Es wäre eine Freude, eine so gute Spieler wie dich selbst, Siegfried spielen," Baljeet replied.

Siegfried grinned before guiding Baljeet back to the table, "Ich sehe, Sie Deutsch sprecht sehr gut, für einen von dien Ethnizität. Nicht, dass es darauf ankommt. Lassen Sie uns spielen!"

Baljeet was the first to revert back to English for the sake of his friends and the others around him, "Anyone can learn German. It is not that hard to do so."

Siegfried nodded, "Fair enough. But now, we play!" And he sat down on the side of the chessboard with the black pieces. "Seeing as you're the challenger," Siegfried told the young Indian boy, "You will be given the first move."

Baljeet nodded to his opponent, and, with Ginger and Phineas hanging over either shoulder, he made the first move.

-10 minutes later-

"Check."

"Hmph. Check. Is that mate?"

"Not quite. However, if I do this..."

"Ok... That did not seem to help you at all. And... Check."

"Check and mate."

"What? That is not possible! How did you-"

"Hey, buddy. It's all in the technique," Siegfried reached across the board, "That was probably the best game I've played in a very long time. Good game?"

Baljeet sighed, "Good game." He shook Siegfried's hand, "You do realize I will be coming to this place more often to overthrow you, correct?"

Siegfried leaned back in the chair, "Hey, I don't mind. If you can beat me fair and square, you deserve it. Until we meet again," he waved at the retreating group.

"So what was he the head of?" Jarv asked Lisa as they left the room.

"Siegfried is the head of the intellectuals in this school. Probably the nicest of all the heads here," Lisa replied. "He's a loyal friend, too. We both should know." She motioned to Sienna and herself.

"Oh?" Ferb asked.

"You don't want to know," Sienna told him, before stopping the entire group in their tracks.

"We need to turn around. Now," Lisa noted when she saw why Sienna had stopped them.

"Who is it?" Phineas asked, trying to see the figure, "Another head?"

"Yes," Lisa answered, "The one you don't want to meet. Especially with me around."

"But wh-" Sienna clamped a hand over Phineas' mouth, and pulled him up against the wall, flattening herself against the wall as best she could. The rest of the gang followed suit.

"That's Lawr," Lisa whispered to the others, "He's the highest and meanest of the heads around here. And he and I don't have the greatest of histories."

"What's he head of?" Adyson's voice could barely be heard, even in the deadening silence.

"He's the head of the heads. He's got good relations with the teachers and the administrative staff. There's nothing he gets in trouble for. He and Clancy are usually around together, but he seems like he's... waiting for something."

"Or some_one_," Gretchen added. Almost as soon as she said that, a boy the same age as most of the gang walked past them, taking no notice, and straight up to Lawr. Seeing him, Lawr grabbed the boy by the collar of the shirt and dragged him over to a more secluded area.

Lisa saw this as a chance. "Quickly: turn around and start heading back the way we came. The next stop is outside."

And so everyone began to file towards the end of the hallway, which branched off into a main lobby and then the courtyard.

**ΩΩ**

Lawr held the boy tightly in his fist, the other drawn back, about to break the freshman's abnormally large nose. "Who are you?" he tried his best to keep his anger in check, "And are you the meaning of this?" He held up a folded piece of paper that had been planted in his locker earlier that day.

"Yes, that was me," the freshman replied, "Now if you could just put me down, I'd be glad to explain to you what all this is about."

Lawr dropped him on the ground, already drawing a foot back to kick the idiotic fool. "If you don't start explaining, I'm gonna need Clancy up here to restrain me," he stated plainly.

The freshman's eyes widened. "But isn't Clancy the most violent guy in the school?"

"Besides me, that is," Lawr replied, "Now start talking, freshie."

"Ok, ok," the freshman tried to hold up his hands in self-defense from the foot that was inches away from him. "My name is Thaddeus. I was working on an invention with my brother, Thor, when the machine started picking up weird anomalies. I looked deeper into it, and that's where-"

"You learned about our mission," Lawr finished.

Thaddeus nodded, "I only learned about it last year, and I decided if you were going after that idiot and his friends, I'd offer my help. And before you answer, Thor knows nothing about this. I've kept it a secret from him all this time."

Lawr scratched his chin, "Hm... If you are willing to join us, I can recommend you to the Director. However, at that point, there is no turning back. You will either join us or die. You understand?"

Thaddeus nodded, "I shall eagerly await the day."

Lawr nodded, "And I'm assuming you want some kind of compensation?"

"Any of the girls. Doesn't matter which, but I can give some suggestions..." Thaddeus grinned, "At least one night. That's all I really need."

Lawr rolled his eyes at the young boy, "We'll see, Thaddeus. In the meantime, don't speak of this to anyone."

Thaddeus scoffed, "Of course not. Where would that get me?"

Lawr sighed. "Fine," he said, "Wait for a message from me this time. This time, _I _contact _you_."

**ΩΩ**

Lisa led the group outside over to a small thicket of trees, where Phineas could see there was a large group of kids who seemed to be completely different from them. Many of them were having a great time, and Phineas could imagine himself in the same group. All he'd have had to do would be to get into that same outfit he had done for the Baljeatles, and he'd have fit right in. Though they were in a forest, Phineas mostly smelled leather. All around him, he could see people who most would consider outcasts sitting around, talking, socializing, and whatnot. Off to the edge, a girl with red streaks in her black hair sat on a tree stump, listening to her iPod. Around her, there were others who were either just conversing with each other or doing the same as she was.

Lisa pointed at the black-haired girl. "That's Kelly. She's Lawr's sister, and mainly the leader of a lot of the outcasts in the school," Lisa waved to Kelly, getting her attention.

The girl stood up, smoothing out her Three Days Grace shirt and brushing the dust off of her ripped black jeans. When she finally reached the group, she blew a stray strand of hair out of her blue eyes. "Hey Lisa," Kelly greeted her friend, "These samples from the new freshman class?"

Sienna grinned from behind Lisa. "Yes, yes they are," she replied, turning Kelly's attention from Lisa to herself.

Kelly grinned back, "It's been a while since you guys hung out with us. You ever gonna come back?"

Lisa glared at Kelly. "Kelly, you know why we-"

Kelly stopped her. "Don't worry, Lisa. I know. Doesn't mean I can't poke fun at it," she answered.

Phineas was watching the banter between two go on. "Hey, Lisa? I just thought of something," he asked the girl, and she turned around, lifting the brim of her fedora up so that she could see the redhead properly.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well... since you've been so nice to us, and don't seem to have your own group to have lunch with, you wanna hang out with us? I know, we being freshmen and all, but just thought it might be nice to ask," Phineas belted out the question, staring at his feet.

Lisa smiled. "Sure. I mean, as long as that's all right with you guys," she addressed the rest of the crowd.

All the kids looked around at each other, thoroughly surprised that this had happened. Ferb was the first to respond with a shrug of his shoulders and a thumbs-up. Isabella followed with her confirmation, then Adyson and Ginger, with the rest of the former Fireside Girls. Baljeet, Jarv, and Annabell also agreeing to this. Only Buford and Luther had any doubts about Lisa's admission.

"What's wrong, Buford?" Adyson asked, "She's helped us this far, why not repay her?"

Buford merely answered, "I don't know. Buford's got a bad feeling about this..."

Luther nodded, "Same here. I'm not sure why, but it's almost like-" he looked at Lisa, and at her face. The mouth especially intrigued him, for some reason. It was the exact same as any normal human mouth, except for the tongue- was that a flash of silver he'd just seen? All of a sudden, the worries drained out of Luther, and he turned back to Buford, who seemed to be waiting for him to finish something. "Eh. Whatever it is, it's gone now. Don't even know why I had any doubts in the first place. C'mon, Buford, you want to let her join?"

Buford sighed in defeat, "Fine. You talked me into it."

Phineas grinned widely, "That's great! Lisa, you can come home on the bus with us. We were planning on building something huge today, seeing as we have pretty much no homework." He checked his watch. "Whoa! It's almost time to get back to class! C'mon guys!" he called to them before leading them off to the B building for PE.

The three girls, Sienna, Lisa, and Kelly, all looked at each other. "Looks like we can consider this mission accomplished," Kelly noted.

"Not quite yet, Kelly," Sienna replied, "Lisa's still gotta get a bit deeper."

Lisa nodded, "Silver Tongue saved me there. I'm almost certain that boy noticed, but I can keep him quiet easily."

Kelly grinned before saying, "Then I'll be seeing you guys back home?"

Sienna agreed, and Lisa replied, "I should be back before the monthly meeting, but just in case, you'll know where I am."

"You ought to be fine. That is, if it's the Supervisor. If the Director calls in, no matter what you're pretty much screwed," Kelly said to her.

Lisa smirked slightly at Kelly's assessment of their boss. "Well, I suppose it's back to class for the rest of us too," she began to walk back towards the building she had her next class in.

**ΩΩ**

It was finally the end of the day, so it should have been no surprise that when the gang reached the bus circle, to say it was crowded would have been an understatement. The buses where all but drowned out by the general noises of the crowd, and a line of buses as far as the eye could see stretched back into the street. Not that anyone could exactly see too much through the mass of people that covered the area of concrete that had been made especially to hold such groups. Luckily, the gang was able to find Lisa early on, and they proceeded to keep their eyes peeled for the school bus that would take them to Maple Drive. While this was being done, the members of the group would exchange witty banter as they kept scanning the line to find their prescribed bus. When they did so, they quickly climbed onto it, being one of the first people to do so. This came to be an advantage to them, mainly because almost as soon as the group had taken their seats, the bus was nearly flooded with students who also needed to get on, not to mention the tide of fangirls who tried their best to hitchhike on, just so that they might be able to glimpse The "Phineas and Ferb". However, once the bus pulled away from the circle, there was significantly less noise, which everyone on the bus was thankful for.

It took only a few minutes for the bus to reach Maple Drive, where close to a third of the occupants on the bus got out of it and all began to walk towards the Flynn-Fletcher house as they usually did. Their new companion fell into step behind them, taking in the sight of the entire neighborhood. Never had she expected the actual targets to be so nice to her. Perhaps they were... human. She shook the thought off and kept her pace even with that of the rest of the group. These were the targets. They were not to be sympathized with. She needed to keep that in mind when she so much as thought about any of the targets. Though she found it a bit sweet that the boy named Phineas had allowed her to join them, it had been foolish of him on that count. She was forced to clear her mind as her new group of friends reached the front door, opening it to reveal a rather modest home inside. The Flynn-Fletcher matriarch could be heard in the kitchen as the red-headed teen called out their presence to her.

The woman stepped out from the kitchen, her red hair a bit disorderly due to the amount of time she'd spent working that day. It only took her a few moments for Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher to notice Lisa standing with the group. "Why, hello dear," she greeted the brown-eyed girl, "What's your name?"

Lisa put out her hand. "I'm Lisa," she answered, "Lisa Vastile."

Linda shook it. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Lisa," she smiled, "I'm assuming that Phineas invited you here?"

Lisa nodded, "That he did." She took a look around the area of the house they were in. "Nice place," she commented.

Linda smiled, "Well, thank you. How does it compare to your own house?"

Lisa's smile faded, "It's all right. Not exactly the nicest place ever, but it's good enough."

Linda backed off from that, already able to tell that it was a bit of a tender subject. "So," she asked, "how did you meet my sons?"

"Well, I actually met Ferb here first," Lisa indicated in the direction of Ferb. "A friend and I saw that he needed help hiding from a horde of fangirls, so we helped him out. After that, I offered to show the group around during lunch. Near the end of lunch, Phineas here decided to ask me to become part of the group, which I agreed to," she finished.

Linda nodded. "That's Phineas for you," she told Lisa, "I think you'll like it around here the more time you're around." She turned back to the boys. "So Phineas, what do you plan on doing this afternoon?"

"Well..." Phineas began to get into some insanely complicated project that he had planned for the afternoon. Lisa ignored him and turned her attention to the rest of the group.

Isabella already had her eyes glued on Phineas, as usual. Lisa was still surprised at just how dense the boy was not to notice that the girl who did everything except blatantly tell him she loved him. It was quite unusual for a boy- especially a _teenage_ boy- to know absolutely nothing about romance. She moved on to the boy who seemed to be the male version of Isabella.

Obviously, that meant he was her brother. Isabella's brother, Luther, she believed his name was, seemed to be listening intently to Phineas' plan, one of his arms wrapped around a girl's shoulders. The girl seemed to act the same way as his sister did around Phineas, and Luther also took little notice of her special attention to him, though there were a few times where he'd give his acknowledgement to her. She aimed her attention at that girl, Annabell.

She seemed to be the closest to being average as you could get in this group, along with her apparent sister, Adyson, who looked quite a bit like her. After having listened to some of her contributions to conversations earlier that day, Lisa figured that Annabell was much smarter than she looked to be from the average glance.

She noted this, turning her attention to Adyson, who seemed to give off the air that she had everything under control. Though Lisa was usually annoyed by the arrogant type, she saw serious potential in the girl. With Adyson too, she made a mental note to tell the Director about the potential which she saw was in this brunette.

She was holding the hand of the giant brute that Lisa had heard was called Buford. From the observations Lisa could gather, Buford had, at one point, been composed of more fat than muscle. But now, it was the exact opposite. Not only did the boy seem much more streamlined, but that little bit of fat he still had only intensified the illusion of his relative impotence. _This boy is nearly Clancy's size_, Lisa thought, grinning at the thought if Clancy had actually come after them. _That would have been a battle to remember_, Lisa thought, _Perhaps it can still happen, no matter how long it takes. I'm confident it will, actually. _For whatever reason, her gaze drifted onto Ferb, who sat in a chair listening intently to his brothers propositions.

_Watch where you're thinking, Beta_, Lawr's voice burst through her thoughts. _You know tonight's objective. You can swoon over that Brit whenever. Right now, you know what you need to do._

_Damnit, Lawr!_ Lisa growled, _I know what you're talking about. Now stay out of my mind! Beta over and out. _She turned to see the rest of the group beginning to file out into the backyard, and Linda directing her attention to her.

"... so if you like, you can meet her," Linda finished, "My husband isn't here right now, but I'm sure my daughter'd like to meet you. You want me to go get her?"

Lisa nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Sure. Sorry about that, I kinda zoned out for a second there," she replied.

Linda smiled in understanding. "It's happened to me too. Don't worry about it," she led Lisa upstairs. "Candace!" she shouted, "I've got someone for you to meet!"

"Coming, Mom!" Lisa could hear the voice of an older girl come from down the hall. Candace appeared, wearing red pants and a white shirt. "What do you think, Mom?" she asked, "Stacy's holding a switch-up party tomorrow, and I thought that this was enough to switch."

Linda chuckled. "Fair enough," she noted, "However, Candace, there's someone I'd like you to meet." She displayed Lisa to Candace, "She's going to be around here more often now."

Lisa extended a hand, "I'm Lisa."

Candace took it. "As you can already tell, I'm Candace," she replied. "Nice to meet you, Lisa. So, how'd you meet my brothers?"

Lisa replied, "Well, I met Ferb first, after a friend and I saved him from a horde of fangirls. Then he later introduced me to his friends when I gave him a tour around the school."

Candace grinned. "Ooooo," she teased, "You've got a crush on Ferb!"

"Not true!" Lisa could feel her face getting red.

Candace laughed. "Don't worry, Lisa," she told the younger girl, "I was just kidding."

The sudden silence that had just fell over the two was broken almost as soon as it had begun by Lisa's cell phone. Lisa picked up the phone, glancing at who it was. It was Lawr, no doubt reminding her about their meeting. "Great," Lisa growled.

"What is it?" Candace asked, a bit worried about Lisa.

"I needed to be home ten minutes ago. Do you think you could give me a ride?" Lisa answered her, hoping that she'd accept.

Candace nodded, "Of course. You'll just need to direct me there."

"Don't worry about that," Lisa told her before turning towards the backyard. "Hey guys!" she called to them, "I gotta go! See ya!"

The gang all waved goodbye to their new friend as she headed out the door towards Candace, who was waiting in a red station wagon for her. "You guys sure do like red," Lisa commented as she climbed into the car.

"When I get my own car, it won't be red. I was thinking more a crimson," she grinned.

"Of course, with Isabella, it seems she'd get a pink sports car of some kind," Lisa muttered.

"Actually, I said the same thing once before," Candace told her, "To which she replied, 'It's not pink! It's lightish red!' Boy, that was funny."

Lisa let out a bark of laughter before instructing Candace the way to her house. While she drove, Candace rambled on about the summers where she'd tried to bust her brothers and completely failed, sharing a few laughs with her passenger. Finally, Lisa instructed her to pull up to a rather large house. Before she got out, Lisa looked at Candace. "Candace, can you do me a favor?" she asked sweetly.

Candace smiled at the girl, nodding. "Of course, Lisa. What do you need?" she answered.

Lisa's facade fell right there. She grabbed Candace by the front of the shirt and dragged her over the console until she was inches away from her face. "I want you to get me reports on your brothers. I want you to tell me everything they do, every second you're around them. You try anything, and I'll make your life miserable, along with the rest of your family. You understand? You report to me, any time I'm over at your house. I want a weekly report delivered unless I specify otherwise. You are to tell no one about this, you understand, Ms. Flynn?"

Candace nodded meekly, "What do you plan to do with this?"

"The only reason I'd think of telling you is if you swore under the punishment of death that you'd never tell," Lisa replied coldly, "Perhaps you'll eventually learn why, but not now." She began to step out of the car before turning back to Candace, "Say anything, and I'll wring your Jeremy's neck right in front of you. Good night, Candace," the way she switched back to her sweet self grimly reminded Candace of Suzy, her boyfriend's demonic little sister.

Candace sat there for a few minutes after Lisa had gone inside, trying to process what had just happened. Eventually, she just sighed and started the car up again. _The fit's gonna hit the shan pretty soon, _she thought, then cursed the allergy medicine she was taking for ruining the near-perfect one-liner she had there.

**ΩΩ**

Lisa threw open the door and ran inside, slamming it behind her and quickly making her way to the conference room that was located off the main hallway. She opened the door, seeing the rest of the group already in their seats, her usual seat, between Lawr and Sienna, was the only one left empty. She took it, half-smiling at Sienna and scowling at Lawr. Before anything else could happen, the gargantuan screen mounted on the wall flickered to life, displaying the slightly obscured face of their boss, the Director.

"Alpha Strike Force, reporting for duty, sir!" Lawr stood up and saluted their commanding officer. The others reluctantly followed suit.

"Good then, Alpha. Have you made contact with the targets yet? I heard you caught a few of them already," the Director continued, his face silhouetted by the light coming from behind him but not in front of him.

"Metalleas, Tom, and Argus have all been captured," Sienna answered his question. "The limiter collars have already been put in place, and last I heard, they're waiting for pickup."

The Director nodded. "Anything on the other targets?" he asked, folding his hands together in anticipation.

"I have been able to begin to gain the other targets' trust," Lisa replied, "I was also able to force Candace under my control. She'll be giving us reports once a week now."

The Director clapped. "Very good, Vastile, very good indeed. I assume the rest of you have completed your own tasks?" he addressed the others.

Clancy stepped forward. "The boy Irving has already been recruited," he replied, "He has agreed to deliver a report to me, also once a week."

Siegfried flipped up a notepad. "That gives us three people watching the targets. Due to what I've heard about what's to happen after the targets are captured, it is my recommendation that we postpone capturing the second group of targets until next year," he stated.

Clancy shrugged. "You're the strategic one," he answered before realizing that the statement had been towards the Director, "Sorry, sir."

The Director acknowledged his apology, "Are you sure this will be the best course of action?"

Siegfried nodded, "I believe so."

"Then we shall focus more time on the captured targets for now. Anything else to report?" the Director moved to switch his transmitter off before Lawr stood up.

"Sir, there is a matter we need to talk about in private," he told his superior.

The Director raised an eyebrow, "Very well then." He addressed the rest of the agents, "I'll check up on you all next month. Perhaps we'll find something interesting then."

Lawr grabbed Lisa's arm as she began to head towards the door. "Hate to say it, but I'll need you here too," he told her.

Lisa pulled her arm out of his grasp. "Fine," she replied, going back to the screen.

"So what was it, Alpha?" the Director asked.

"When we were at school today," Lawr began, "a Freshman contacted me."

Lisa scoffed, "_This_ is your problem? Afraid of a little kid now?"

"Vastile," the Director growled.

Lawr continued, "He revealed to me that he knew about our mission."

"And he's still alive?" Lisa exclaimed. Lawr nodded.

"Alpha, why isn't he dead?" the Director asked.

"He may know about our mission, but he's kept it a secret from everyone he knows for a year. He contacted me because he wants to join us. He hates the targets, and want to help out, apparently," Lawr told them both.

"And you believe him?" Lisa questioned him, "What would make you do that?"

"It wasn't completely me," Lawr replied, earning a quizzical look from Lisa, "I think the memory unit we all had implanted in ourselves influenced my decision."

The Director nodded with understanding, "The memory units were made so that should a situation like this come up, the memories of past agents will help guide you to the correct decision. Bring him here next Monday, and I shall interview him. If he passes, he'll be an honorary member. If not, I'm sure you have no qualms about killing him, Alpha?"

"None at all, sir," Lawr replied.

"Very good. We shall set up your meeting with Doofenshmirtz for this Saturday. Be ready by then. Our people will get the details to you," the Director instructed the two, "Fight well, Agents."

"Live well, Director," the agents replied as the screen blanked out.

They stepped outside to see the others continuing the debate they'd been having before the Director had started the meeting. "I'm telling you, it sounds better as 'badass' instead of 'bad'," Kelly told Taylan, Clancy nodding as he stood beside her.

Taylan thought about it. "No, it just doesn't really fit. 'Badass' is two syllables, and 'bad' is only one. It fits the meter, unlike your proposal," he replied, Siegfried beside him, nodding.

"You guys are still discussing this?" Lawr asked, "This has gone on long enough."

Kelly turned to her brother, "You already put your opinion in. You agreed with us, and that's 3-2. We win!"

Taylan shook his head, "Whatever. It's time for us to get to bed. It's nearly midnight already."

Lisa nodded. "I agree. Now c'mon guys. Off to bed!" she ushered the others upstairs.

"Ok, _mom_," Clancy grinned as he went up the stairs last.

_Just like the Allmother..._Lisa thought to herself, before quickly shoving the thought away. She was on a mission here, and she couldn't be touched by the phantoms of their past, not now.

"You thought the same thing," she spun around to see Lawr leaning up against one of the walls.

"Didn't I tell you before to stay out of my mind?" Lisa growled at him half-heartedly. "I... didn't want you... in my mind..." she nearly collapsed from exhaustion, and Lawr was there to steady her.

"You're beat. Let's get you upstairs," Lawr, for the first time in all the years Lisa had known him, spoke to her kindly. Then he leaned next to her ear, "You mention this _ever_, and I'll have to destroy you."

Lisa grinned at this, "Then you might have to destroy me eventually."

Lawr chuckled, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, you need to get some sleep." As he helped Lisa over to her room, he hummed the tune that the others had been debating over and whispered the newly revised song line, "That's why they call me... Badass Company, I can't deny. Baaadass Company, 'til the day I die..." He left Lisa at her doorway and headed towards his own room, grinning to himself. _Kelly and Clancy were right,_ he thought, _the song _does_ sound better that way. _He looked back at Lisa's doorway and smiled at the wooden surface that greeted him back. _Who would have thought? _he wondered, _Two years ago, she was ready to kill me, now she's one of my best friends. Oh, how times change, _he grinned as he closed his own door, A_nd I'm certain she'd appreciate the irony here... _he thought as he got into bed and drifted off to sleep.

The final thing he heard was Lisa's sluggish reply, _You've got that right. There's payback... for earlier today..._

And with that, the two agents passed into unconsciousness, both of them feeling a bit more relaxed for once in their lives.

**Now tell me, how many of you expected that from Alpha? *counts hands* Ok, I know not **_**that**_** many people expected that. Anywho, we've got a bit of espionage going on now… along with Candace's messed up one-liner. (like someone will get **_**that **_**reference…) Hurm… Not too much to say, but if you guys were able to get through Cp's Paris episode, this was nothing. I'm interested to see what you guys thought of it, and as usual, ConCrit is welcomed. Actually, Lancelot and I probably haven't caught all the typos, and it's a long chapter… if you guys see anything, tell me, ok? ESPECIALLY if I've got any bit of Stus or Sues in there. I REALLY need to know if that's in there. I'll try and fix it ASAP. And I'm not sure, but it's entirely possible the next chapter will NOT be beta-ed… Lancelot's got computer trouble. We'll just have to wait and see, huh? Until next month, and happy Easter to you guys!**

**-Terra**


	5. Out When a Catastrophe Appears

**A/N: Aaand I'm back! Not too much to say, but thanks for the reviews! So instead, here are the standings. The Emperor is… actually, still at 7. I think. Maya Serena's got 1 point, though, depending on how original this "Lord of Light" reference I made was, it might be two. And tied with Maya is Indigo Signora, at one point. (actually kinda surprised no one noticed the HISHE reference before- besides Cp, but he didn't want to participate, so she gets it.)**

**And off to Chapter… 5, I think. Yeah, chapter 5.**

**Chapter 4:**** Out When a Catastrophe Appears**

Present time

Phineas and the others sat on the bus as it drove closer to the school, which, for whatever reason, had become much more fun for him after Lisa had decided to join them. It had been over a year since they'd first met her, and as the year had progressed, they'd seen her turn down many different boys who had sought her. However, an even bigger surprise had been the "secret" that she hadn't told anyone: the fact that she and Lawr had been more than friends at one point.

Of course, Lisa was lying to them about that. Not that anyone actually knew that she was, but that didn't stop her from doing so. Lawr hadn't been happy about it when he heard what she'd said, but he'd been forced to play along all the same. Either way, both he and Lisa had promised that in a few months they would have the other targets for the Director, and they'd see to it that it was done.

However, one truth was that Lisa had become good friends with many of the members of the group. The past weekend, she, Isabella, and Adyson had gone out for a "girls night out", as they'd called it, and she'd had quite a bit of fun with the two. This had gotten her thinking: even if the people were supers, they were still people, weren't they? Of course, she made sure to keep this to herself. No one, especially not her, should think like that. Traitors were not well-liked in the Agency at all, especially those who were that close to the Director.

She shook her head as Isabella shook her by the shoulders, calling her name. "What?" she asked the ebony-haired girl.

Isabella replied, "You were mumbling something, Lisa. Thought you might want to listen to our conversation instead of talking to yourself."

Lisa grinned, "How nice of you."

Isabella laughed, "I try, Lisa. I try."

They were interrupted as the bus halted in front of the school and opened its doors, causing a flood of students to get off the bus. At the same time, the usual horde of girls were trying to climb onto the bus so as to get even a glimpse of Phineas and Ferb, apparently the two greatest boys in the school. However, Adyson had stated that the reason for so much attention led down to one thing: both of them were still single. Phineas had originally scoffed at the idea until Ferb agreed with her, and then, after having to explain it to Phineas in some way without blatantly stating that Isabella loved him, Ferb had convinced Phineas that he ought to find someone, if only to take the obsessive attention off of him. Ferb, who was known as a lady's man throughout the school, had made sure to quash Phineas' fears that all the attention would be directed towards him by saying that he already had a girl in mind to choose should he need to. Of course, then Phineas' obliviousness took over, and he completely disregarded Isabella's feelings unknowingly by saying that he had no idea who he could go out with that would be a good person. To this, Ferb had laughed and suggested Isabella, whose face had turned bright red at the statement. The conversation had been forced to change at that point, to avoid any uncomfortable moments between the group.

But Phineas had decided to find another way to keep the girls off him back. He'd invented a device that made him look like someone else to the fangirls, but not anyone else. The problem was that it only worked for a little while before it needed a new power source, which Phineas couldn't carry around. It was bad enough that he had the power source for the device in the first place, but he was certain that the school wouldn't approve of him bringing Plutonium to school, no matter how contained it was. Who knew how he'd gotten a hold of it, but for whatever reason, Ferb knew people who could do so, mainly a former scientist that he had known for a while, a Dr. Brown. The man, who Phineas had met only once, seemed rather eccentric, but most certainly trustworthy, and Phineas liked him quite a bit.

So when Phineas was able to get off the bus without being horded by girls, he was quite relieved. Today, he was even luckier than usual, as the Plutonium had lasted long enough for him and a few others to disappear into the crowd. In his hasty getaway, however, he'd separated himself from Isabella and Buford, along with Luther and a few others. When Isabella appeared, Phineas saw that half the boys around him automatically turned to look at her. It was always annoying for Phineas to see this kind of lust portrayed towards his best friend, especially in such close proximity to himself. The annoyance grew even more, seeing as if he so much as tried to do anything to turn the boys' attention away, it would also turn the girls' attention away from his friend, and who knew how long it would take for him to get rid of the "rabid fangirls", as the group had begun to call them. So for now, he was forced to merely sit and watch as parts of the male student body were already fantasizing about the girl who had been his friend for as long as he could remember. However, in this respect he was grateful for Ferb and Luther, who were always there to protect Isabella from anyone who decided to go too far.

Today, however, Ferb had come to school earlier, telling his step-brother he needed to set up something in Engineering first. Phineas had obliged, allowing him to use the teleporter they'd created over the summer, and told him he'd see him in first period. So now, the task fell onto Luther's shoulders, though he was having enough trouble getting through the groups of girls shouting at him for the location of Phineas. Though a few of the girls did seem content with just him being around, it seemed. However, Annabell was around, so she was able to keep most of them off his back while he focused on guiding his sister through the press of bodies towards their usual meeting point. Jarv and Buford where there too, but they'd already gotten swept away in the tide of students to be of any help.

Phineas turned around when he felt a hand on his shoulder, seeing Lisa. "Why is it that you, of all people, are standing around acting lonely?" she asked him, her eyes questioning him.

"Well, mainly because I don't want to be dog-piled on by half the female student body," he replied, meeting her gaze. "Plus, we always meet farther into the school, not at the entrance."

Lisa nodded, "A fair reason."

Phineas raised an eyebrow at her, "Why are you asking? You're always there anyway."

Lisa replied, "You mistake my question, Phineas. I asked _why_. I already knew where, but that was it."

"Well we better get out of here before any of those 'rabid fangirls' of yours notice you're here," she continued, grabbing Phineas by the shoulder and guiding him through the crowd to their usual meeting spot, an arbitrary spot beneath the stairs that they'd taken to last year. Phineas pushed a bit through the crowd around their spot, sitting down next to Ferb, who had already sat down and started reading a book before his brother had arrived. Lisa sat on the other side of the Brit and placed her chin on his shoulder to see what he was reading. "Huh. 1984? An amusing read," she commented. Ferb turned away from the book and raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey! I'm allowed to have my own opinion!" she defended herself from the teen's slightly frosty gaze.

Phineas shook his head, "Was it me, or did you really just call 1984 amusing?"

Lisa grinned, "Yes,I just went there, Phineas. Then I came back to get my lunch that I forgot. Then I went back over there."

Ferb snorted at her before going back to his book, which in fact was 1984. "So, Ferb," the redheaded teen wrapped an arm around his step-brother and gave him a noogie, "What've we got planned for today in Engineering?"

Ferb shook his head; for whatever reason, he refused to talk out loud in front of so many people. It just annoyed him that half the people who heard his voice would usually faint. And what made it even weirder was that they weren't all girls.

Phineas understood, "We'll have to wait, then?"

Ferb nodded before going back to his book. Lisa, who had already turned her attention away from the boys, looked out into the crowd, checking to see if the others where anywhere near their usual meeting point. She looked out to see Baljeet and Ginger approaching them quickly, most of the Fireside Girls right behind them. She quickly noted that Isabella, Adyson, Buford, Luther, and a few others weren't with them.

"Phineas!" Baljeet burst through the crowd, Ginger and Jarv on either side of him, "Come quick! It is Isabella!"

Phineas jumped up so quickly he almost slipped and fell over, "What is it? Is she hurt? What happened to her?"

Lisa's eyes narrowed. "So it begins," she murmured, tuning out the rest of the world and focusing through her glasses. _Baljeet has a few scuff marks on his knees and sides, _she noted, _Bullies or brushes with the wall? Or worse: Lawr._ Her mind slipped back in on itself, pondering one minute detail to tell what was happening. "Isabella's getting harassed by one of the guys." It wasn't a question but a statement.

Baljeet nodded, "I could not get a good look, since that person Taylan seems to have a cult following him. There were at least five other people who looked were nearly replicas of him that were blocking my sight. Of course, that could not possibly-" he was cut off as Phineas shook him by the shoulders.

"Think, Baljeet, think! Who was it? Anything would help, appearance, voice, actions, anything!" Phineas was close to shouting at the young Indian teen.

_Lawr, who did you send? _Lisa asked him.

_Theta Phylum, _Lawr replied, _Agent Phlint is just getting ready for Clancy and my debut._

"... and glasses, and his voice sounded quite familiar," Baljeet tried to imitate the voice to poor quality, but the three still understood who it was.

"Thaddeus," Phineas growled, his hands clenching into fists as he spoke the name. "How dare he!"

Baljeet moved out of the way as Phineas stomped over towards the crowd that had formed a semicircle around two people, a boy and a girl. Even as Phineas tried to push his way through, two more boys, older than Thaddeus, stepped through the crowd, making it part between them. There was no mistaking it, it was Lawr and Clancy. Phineas bit back a curse as the two walked over to Thaddeus, who already had Isabella up against a wall, a hand on either side of the wall beside her head, imprisoning her. Seeing the two Juniors, Thaddeus released the girl as Lawr and Clancy got on either side of her.

"Well, what have we got here?" Clancy grinned, "New meat?"

Isabella tried to back away, but she was already against the wall. "No. I'm a sophomore," she told him, "Now call off your friend here before my friends come to help me out."

Lawr let out a bark of harsh laughter, "Because you're obviously in the position to be able to make demands. Plus we can easily take on your friends and win."

Isabella looked at him with a fire in her eyes. "What do you want? And if it's something romantic or whatever, take a hike," she told him before he could say anything.

"Oh, that won't be all we'll be taking," Thaddeus chuckled as he pretended to reach for her arm.

"Back off, you pervert!" she shouted at him, causing him to withdraw and laugh again at her.

"Again, why?" Lawr asked her, "It's not like we need to be afraid of you or anything." He grinned, "I mean, three guys, one girl. Not exactly too much of a struggle there." The assembled group let out a collective laugh at this.

_Don't you think you might be taking this a bit too far? _Lisa asked him.

_Well, for this guy, we need to take it up to... what number was it you said it was? _Lawr replied.

_It was- _Lisa was interrupted as someone pushed his way through the crowd.

"Hey! Bastard!" Luther shouted at the three, who turned to face him, "Yeah, you! What the Hell do you think you're doing to her?"

Lawr raised an eyebrow before turning back to Isabella. "Seems like your boyfriend's here to save you," his comment caused the crowd, minus the rest of Luther's friends, to laugh hysterically. Luther's face contorted into a mask of rage.

"She isn't my girlfriend, she's my sister, you idiot!" he roared. "Now get over here so I can punch your face in!"

The crowd let out a collective gasp. No student, no matter their age, had ever tried to call any of the Heads out, and Luther had done so for two of them. "He just called you out!" someone could be heard jeering at Lawr and his two accomplices. Another shouted, "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" This proved to be the crowd's sudden descent into what was known as "groupthink", and the rest of the crowd took up the shout.

Phineas finally pushed his way through the crowd to stand at the forefront of the crowd as the two older boys sauntered over to Luther, Clancy cracking his knuckles as he did so. That left Thaddeus holding Isabella, who struggled to get away. Phineas could only hear her order him to let her go, before he responded for her to go somewhere that truly enraged the redheaded boy. _If he so much as _thinks_ that at Isabella, so help me! _Phineas raged. Then, to add insult to injury, Isabella asked him again, and he called her something much worse before slapping her and then pushing her onto the floor. _Isabella! _Phineas wasn't sure if he'd said it out loud, but from the looks of it, he had. _Thaddeus! _he raged, not caring if he was speaking or thinking. _How dare you treat _my _Isabella like that! I'll kill you for this!_ Phineas then lost control of any kind of inhibitions he had before the incident and charged Thaddeus like an enraged animal, his shoulder jamming into his opponent's stomach, launching him back a few feet and causing him to crack his head on the tile floor. Phineas, determined to show no mercy on his peer, pounced on the slightly shaken boy and, straddling him, began to rain punches onto the boy, too quickly for him to block. At this point, time seemed to slow before Phineas as he was able to maneuver around the other boy's guard at normal speed to land his hits, while Thaddeus seemed to be moving in slow motion. By the time he'd finished, the entire crowd, even Lawr and Clancy, who had been about to attack Luther, were staring at him in disbelief. Phineas' eyes narrowed as some of Thaddeus' friends who were brave enough to face him stepped forward, the group consisting of Lawr, Clancy, and Thor, Thaddeus' brother.

"You think you can win, Flynn?" Thor's deep voice, one that Phineas had never heard before, rumbled through the silent air. "I'm gonna have to beat you now for that."

"You and what army?" Phineas growled, his blood still hot from the beating he'd given Thaddeus mere seconds ago.

"I think one on three is more than enough," Lawr replied, striding over to Phineas, "We've got you outnumbered. Get out of here, or we'll be beating you."

Phineas was about to reply when Buford charged out of the crowd. "Sounded like you needed some help, Dinna Bell!" he shouted, laughing as he did so. "Two on three good enough for ya?" he asked Lawr.

"Make it three on three," the others had nearly forgotten about Luther, who had decided to throw the first punch, smashing a fist into Thor's kidneys.

The boy fell onto the ground clutching his sides as the crowd shouted with approval, not because Thor had fell, but because there was a fight. Clancy rounded on Luther and slammed his fist across the younger boy's face, sending him spinning back a few feet before getting up again, only to have to face Thor once more. Chaos erupted as both Buford and Phineas charged Clancy and Lawr, respectively. It was a mixture of fists, feet, all-out anger, and adrenaline as the crowd closed in on the combatants, causing the fighting space to be much smaller than it originally had been. There were four different highlights to the entire fight: Luther was pressed up against a wall by Thor and got pummeled before smashing his forehead into Thor's and beating the stunned boy. Lawr pinning Phineas down before Phineas flipped the position and started to rain punches onto the older boy's guard. Lawr blocked them with relative ease, but at some point, Phineas once again seemed to move at regular speed while he slowed down, and he got a few good punches in before Lawr slammed an open hand into his chest, pushing him up enough for Lawr to get his legs underneath him and shove Phineas a few feet backward and fall onto the floor. Buford and Clancy were exchanging heavy-handed blows, each already so bruised that there were hardly any points where they weren't black and blue. However, the highlight for many watching the fight was Thaddeus, who had tried to sneak up and assault Phineas from behind. Unfortunately for him, Isabella had finally recovered from the shock of seeing Phineas' actions and hearing his words. She had grabbed Thaddeus by the nose and thrown him against the wall before punching him in the gut twice. As of now, chaos reigned, and the crowd was shouting incoherently as each blow was dealt, not caring who dealt it or who it was dealt to. There was simply no way any teacher could get into the crowd, seeing as how tightly packed it had gotten.

That was, until the Physical Education teacher, Coach Von Haney, shouted, "QUIET!" The entire school hall was silent, trying their best not to draw the angry German coach's attention on them. Von Haney had a reputation for handing out referrals if you decided to look at him funny, and so no one wanted to distract him from the actual culprits. By now, the fighters had already stopped what they were doing and tried to act casual in front of the burly man. Buford and Clancy, however, were the dead give-aways that the fight actually had happened. The crowd parted as Von Haney walked towards the eight teens, surveying each one of them. "Not a word, Garcia-Shapiro," he growled at Luther as he opened his mouth. "Nothing from you either, Palack," as Clancy was about to do the same. "All of you. Principal Otvazhnyi's room. Now," he turned back to the crowd, "The bell already rang, so unless you want me to start clogging the detention rooms, get to class!"

The crowd dispersed as the eight were led towards the principal's office, which Luther, Phineas, and Isabella all would have rather not set foot in. Looking at Lawr's expression, Phineas was slightly unsettled by the gigantic grin the older boy had across his face. Phineas didn't know why, but his senses were screaming at him to get out of that room, something they'd never done before. At first, the red-headed inventor didn't know what it was until he reached the principal's office. It was fear. He had no idea why, and of what, but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something bad was going to happen.

They entered the principal's office to find Principal Otvazhnyi sitting in a simple wooden chair, his spartan office bare of any adornments except for an American flag and a small case with a hat and medals that had he had once worn during his service as a drill sergeant. "All right, subordinates," he growled at the teens, "Who started this?"

"Thaddeus," Isabella beat them all to it.

"Phlint, you're going to stay behind so we can talk personally," Otvazhnyi told the boy. "Anyone else?" He asked the group, fixing Buford and Clancy with his gaze, "I see you two were getting pretty into it," he noted. "You'll stay too," he moved on to Luther and Thor, "You know what, all of you just stay here. I'll be wanting answers from all of you."

"Sir," Luther stepped forward, "If it means anything, I threw the first punch while attempting to protect my friend and my sister."

The principal looked at him and pretended to think. "No, no it doesn't. A week of In-School Suspension."

Luther tried to protest, "But sir-"

The principal fixed him with a cold stare. "You've been in here before, Garcia-Shapiro. I'm not going to make any exceptions whatsoever."

Luther tried to begin again, "But-"

"You can go now, Garcia-Shapiro," Otvazhnyi answered coldly, "Both of you," he added, eyeing Isabella.

As the two left, the principal turned his gaze onto Phineas, who still had a bad feeling about this entire meeting, especially now that Luther had only soured their principal's mood. He silently promised himself he'd hit Luther for that. "Flynn, what was your part in all of this?"

"I went to protect Isabella after Thaddeus hurt her," then, seeing the principal's raised eyebrow, he added, "physically."

"And after that, you picked a fight with Lawr here?"

"No. He threatened to gang up on me with Clancy and Thor if I didn't leave Isabella alone with them."

"So you fought back?"

"Well, as soon as Luther had attacked Thor, I saw he was about to get attacked by Lawr and Clancy. So I went in to keep that from happening."

"And you struck at Lawr first?"

"Well... yes."

"So you picked a fight with him."

"Wha-no! I was protecting another!"

"Quiet, Flynn. But the point still remains: you picked a fight with Lawr."

"Luther would have been attacked if I hadn't. And he was threatening me."

"That's not a good enough reason to attack someone. A week of In-School Suspension."

He turned to Buford, "Van Stomm, do you deny that you did anything different from your friend?"

Buford shook his head, "I don't. Any punishment you deem acceptable I will bear."

"Then the same goes for you. A week of In-School Suspension."

Buford nodded and began to guide Phineas out, "C'mon, Dinna Bell. We'd better get to class, no?"

Phineas nodded sullenly as the larger boy led him out to meet up with his earlier dismissed friends.

**ΩΩ**

Otvazhnyi turned to the three figures who were left in his office. "You all were damn close to blowing your cover," he growled at Lawr.

Lawr raised an eyebrow, and Otvazhnyi continued, "Taylan was using his power to block off some of the targets from reaching that girl. According to Vastile, one of them noticed. Do you have any idea how bad it would have been if they'd seen Taylan's face and realized it was the exact same on each head? Do you?"

Clancy's eyes narrowed, "Taylan forgets his place too often, Supervisor. I have a feeling we ought to watch ourselves around him more so. He's been getting more aggressive too. I suggest that we 'retire' him after we get back to base."

The Supervisor nodded, "I had thought of this. The energy reader I had under my desk nearly exploded when Flynn came into the room. I think he's spouting his powers now. He needs to be taken out."

Lawr bowed his head to his superior, "It will be done, Supervisor. Soon."

The Supervisor slammed a fist on his table, "No. Not soon. Tonight. It must be done tonight."

Lawr's head shot up in surprise, "Sir?"

The Supervisor continued, "We can't wait any longer. If Flynn's spouting powers, who knows who else is. We have to take them out."

Clancy cracked his knuckles, "Just say the word."

The Supervisor growled at him, "You idiot! Even if I switched off every single camera in the school and kept everyone away, there would still be too many witnesses. At least, during the day. Set up a fight for tonight at the football field. I can make sure no one is there and the cameras are off," he snapped his fingers and the door behind him opened, revealing a group of figures, "I made the point of calling in Lucky Thirteen to help you all out. Twenty agents should be enough, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir," Lawr smiled when he saw his fellow agents, "Yes it will."

**ΩΩ**

Phineas slowly swirled his mashed potatoes around the school lunch tray, regretting every moment that he had bought school lunch. However, he was more annoyed at his principal, who stood firm on his punishment. The only thing that made it worse was the fact that Thaddeus, Thor, Lawr, and Clancy had nearly gotten off free, with only one day of out-of-school suspension. Phineas was too busy lost in thought to realize anything had happened until he was tapped on the shoulder by Isabella, who'd sat down next to him. "How are you coping, Phineas?"

Phineas hung his head, "Not the greatest. I let you get hurt. That shouldn't have happened. I failed you as a friend."

Isabella placed a hand on his shoulder, "You didn't fail me, Phineas, and it was not your fault I got hurt. I should have tried to defend myself, but I was so caught up in the swirl of the events I- my mind went blank. I just didn't expect Luther to go charging into such bad odds. Or you, for that matter," she noted.

Phineas just sighed, "I truly have no idea what I was doing back there. Sorry."

Isabella smiled at him, "No need to apologize, Phineas. Besides, I'm glad you did," she leaned in, her face inches away from his own, which was still staring down at his plate, and whispered, "For whatever it's worth, Phineas..." she smiled at him, "I don't mind being called "your Isabella". Thank you," then, before she could contain her emotions, she gave Phineas a quick kiss on the cheek. It was nothing of much significance to an average person, but it seemed to mean the world to both of them. She placed an envelope in front of him before getting up and walking out of the cafeteria, "See ya later, Phineas," she grinned before disappearing through the cafeteria doors.

Phineas stared at her retreating back, wondering what it all meant. _What just happened? _he thought, absentmindedly tearing at the paper. _Did she just-? _His thoughts were interrupted as Baljeet, Ginger, Adyson, and Ferb sat down around him, all talking over what had happened in their respective classes. Throughout the conversation, Ferb had said that their Engineering teacher was letting Luther and Phineas off free, and that the other teachers were already notified and would be sending Phineas their classroom schedules for the week. It had also been mentioned about going out to the movies that night, that was, unless Phineas was grounded. Baljeet had voiced his concern about such a topic, claiming that his life would not be the same without Phineas' cheery presence around.

At that point, Phineas just growled quietly, mulling over what had just happened and how to fix it. He tore at the envelope in annoyance, producing an off-white letter. Curious, he opened it further, finding a letter that had been addressed to him. Ferb and Adyson, who sat on either side of him, also noticed the new letter and took to looking over the redhead's shoulder so they could read it too.

Of course, they all gaped at what it said.

_Hello Flynn. In case you're wondering, it was rather easy for me to get your idiotic bitch to deliver this letter to you. Not as if she's _smart _or anything, so it wasn't terribly difficult to get her to take the letter to you. Just told her it was from Otvazhnyi and she was off to the races._

_Anyhow, on to the main part of the letter. Assuming you were actually serious about fighting us- don't make me laugh. A child like you could hardly touch us, let alone win in a fight against us. But since you seemed ready to fight and not be a coward, which it seems like you usually are, I'm willing to play along with you. You want me to stop with any hostile attention? Come to the football field at 10:00 pm with __only__ these people: yourself, Isabella, Buford, Adyson, Luther, Annabell, Jarv, and Baljeet. Then we can settle this once and for all, Flynn. And you needn't worry about an ambush- unless you've brought others with you. Then I'll have some of my boys take them out quicker than you can register it happening. So anyway: 10:00 pm. Football field. Bring all your bitches, especially that illegal girl. You don't want to be called a coward, now do you?_

_-Lawr_

Phineas held the letter, his hands shaking uncontrollably. The entire table noticed a difference in their friend's attitude, and began to ask him what was wrong. Phineas uncharacteristically snarled at them to stop and, in a fit of anger, stalked off out of the cafeteria, the letter still in hand. He had absolutely no idea where he was going, but eventually he bumped into Lisa, almost causing her to spill the soda she had grasped in one hand.

"Well damn," Lisa noted, "Someone's pissed off."

Phineas nodded, trying to get a handle on his rage. He was nearly unsuccessful. "Here, look at this," he shoved the letter in Lisa's face.

Lisa read it over, "Yep, I see what's happening here. Listen, Phineas," she told him, "I realize that you might not want to, but what seems to be the best option here is to go. If you actually win, Lawr won't bother you ever again. Hell, you might even become a head yourself. If you lose, I can already tell you that Lawr won't bother you too much again anyway. He has a bit of an honor system that works that way. However, if you _don't_ go, he'll have the entire school brand you as a coward, and there won't be a single person outside of our group who likes you even slightly. I think that in this case, it might be best for you to do as he wants."

Phineas eyed her skeptically, "And you know so much about him because...?"

Lisa sighed, "Do we have to go over this again? I was, at one point, his girlfriend. There? You happy?"

"Was?" Phineas asked.

"No. I'm not getting into the specifics," Lisa answered, venom in her voice.

Phineas stared at her before nodding once more. "I understand, Lisa," Lisa looked at him before he continued, "He betrayed you at some point, didn't he?"

"What?" Lisa spit out her soda before turning to look at Phineas. "Where the hell did you get that idea?"

"I just thought-" Phineas began.

"Damn it, Flynn, that's all you _ever _do is think!" she hauled off and slapped him across the face, "Don't ever even think about bringing up my life again. You have no idea what I've gone through to get to this point. So shut up with your guessing and don't you DARE try to think what my life is like, or so help me-" She was interrupted as Phineas looked up at her and kissed her. Almost immediately, she pushed him away and slammed a balled hand into his gut. "Seriously Phineas, what the f-" she was interrupted once more when Isabella came around the corner, already showing signs she'd witnessed the entire thing.

"Why, Phineas?" she whispered, deep hurt in her eyes.

Phineas froze for a few seconds when he saw her there before stuttering, "I-I-I don't know. Sh-sh-she was going on about how bad her life was... so I thought that it would work like on that one episode of-"

Lisa cut him off, "Dumbass. You think that everything works like it does on TV? Well I've got news for you, boy. It doesn't. So don't you dare touch me unless you seriously mean it, which I already know you never will. So get out of my sight before I have to punch you again." With that, she stalked off, leaving Phineas wondering if he'd just lost a friend.

Isabella knelt beside him, "What was that all about?"

Phineas began to get up, brushing himself off as he did so, "It was this letter," he told her, handing her the letter, "I was trying to cool down, and I bumped into Lisa. Then this entire thing started," he gestured to the general area of the place.

Isabella nodded in understanding, "I get it, Phineas. What was so bad about this letter that-" Phineas pointed to near the end of the letter, "Illegal girl?" Isabella nearly screeched, her eyes burning with hatred. "I'm going to kick his-" Phineas placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll deal with him tonight. Don't worry, that much I promise you."

**ΩΩ**

Kelly Thorton stepped off the bus, two others behind her. They'd arrived at a miserable imitation of Ferb's head that had been called a building, and it was usually referred to as the DEI building. Here, their other contact, Heinz Doofenshmirtz, or, as he liked to be called, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, resided. Nearly a year ago, he'd been contracted by the Agency to make a machine for them, and now was the time that the Agency needed that weapon. So Kelly, the one who would wield the weapon, was sent to pick it up and pay the scientist his due.

Kelly walked into the lobby, checking the roster posted on the board, and took the elevator up to the top floor. As she stepped out of the sub-par elevator, her hand rubbed against its wall, and she made sure to shut off the seemingly everlasting tune of some band called "PFT". She glanced down the hall, seeing signs that said things like "Evil Labratory 300 ft", "Plans to be foiled are this way!", and even "Follow the signs, Perry the Platypus!"

Kelly rolled her eyes as she opened the door, and dodged a falling baby Grand Piano as it nearly landed on her head. Almost as soon as she did so, darts shot out of the walls, impacting all around her. One passed so close that it went through part of her hair, but no skin. Of course, then there were the assorted bear traps, cages, and spiked pits that any self-respecting evil scientist would have, before she finally reached a door guarded by a giant humanoid robot. Behind the door, Kelly could here the sounds of conflict going on. The robot reached out to Kelly, who had already adopted a defensive stance. The Agency had taught her many forms of martial arts, but she had no idea how many of them would work against giant robots such as this one. She was ready to try and take the robot before its hand stopped perhaps a foot away from her. "My name is Norm."

Kelly was taken off guard by this response, and she looked at the thing quizzically. "Um... ok. My name's Kelly," she replied, still on the defensive. By now, the other two boys, Lucky-8 and Lucky-4, both were at her side, also disarmed by the giant robot's sudden friendliness. "Can we go in?" Kelly asked Norm.

"Only if my boss allows it," Norm replied before opening the door and then saying, "He is still fighting the Platypus. We shall wait for him."

Kelly nodded, and the four waited until there was an explosion and someone shouting, "Curse you, Perry the Platypus!"

Norm opened the door for the others, allowing them to go into Doofenshmirtz' lab. The doctor saw them and immediately got up, brushing himself off. "Hello, children! What can I do for you?"

Kelly chuckled, "We're from the Director's district, Mr. Doofenshmirtz. We've come to pick up the machine you were to have ready for us."

Doofenshmirtz' eyes lit up, "Ah, yes. The Anti-skill-and-memory-inator has been ready for some time. I would have called you, but I was a bit preoccupied, as you can see here. You've got no idea how much I have wanted to try it out on Perry the Platypus these past few days."

"Well don't you worry, Mr. Doofenshmirtz. With this in our hands, we'll be able to get you the entire Tri-State Area, simple as that," Kelly snapped her fingers.

"What are you going to do with it?" Doofenshmirtz leaned closer intently.

Kelly grinned back and told him, "We're going to take out the OWCA."

**ΩΩ**

The intelligence work Doofenshmirtz had gotten from the OWCA when Norm had been an agent had been invaluable to Kelly and the rest of the strike force that was going to attack the OWCA, mostly due to the fact that it had given them the target's location and size. Now all that was left was for Kelly and most of Lucky Thirteen to get into there and take out the agency, along with all its agents. The target had been an underground facility that covered most of subterranean Danville. The main entrance was beneath a photography studio, which only took pictures of their target nemeses with some kind of corny, outdated background of a beach. So therefore, it was imperative that Kelly keep the group's profile low as much as possible as she entered the building.

"Hello," she smiled sweetly at the male secretary as she pushed a card across the table. It had been forged, but the only way he'd be able to tell is if he held it under ultraviolet light. But the intel had said that they'd only run it through the scanner and be done with it. Kelly had easily hacked into the system and set up an appointment for that same day, so by now it shouldn't have been a problem. That was, until the secretary picked up the card and headed towards a room filled with ultraviolet light. _But the intel said..._then she remembered how long ago it'd been taken: close to ten years ago._ This isn't good... Lucky-1, options?_

Lucky-1, the third in command of the squad, racked his brain, _Sorry Epsilon... nothing._

Kelly inwardly cursed herself and her lack of good improvisation. So before the secretary could go into the room, she called him, "Excuse me?"

The secretary turned around, his red shirt gleaming in the fluorescent lighting that the shop had been using. "What is it, little miss?" he asked, a bit of a southern drawl coming through.

"Could you come here for a second?" Kelly offered up the best innocent smile she could get. Being as that she was still dressed like a goth or whatever she was supposed to be, it didn't exactly work too well.

"What do you want?" the secretary asked as he leaned over the raised counter that functioned as a hutch for his desk.

"We were just wondering where the entrance to the OWCA headquarters were," Kelly grinned as Lucky-1 pulled out a silenced pistol and held it steady at the secretary's head. Lucky-4 had already pulled all the curtains down, so there was no way an innocent bystander would see them.

The secretary stared at them in conclusion, "I have no idea-" he was stopped as Lucky-1 shoved the pistol closer to his face.

"Let's see... I'll probably shoot you in the shoulder first before I go ahead and kick in your teeth..." Lucky-1 mused. "Maybe take a few of those power cables there and stab them into you. It'd be a sudden heart attack for you, and we could find the entrance on our own. I rather like that idea. How about you, ma'am?"

"Sounds good to me," Kelly replied, motioning for Lucky-5 to grab one of the main power feeds to the entire building and make to zap the secretary.

That was, until he nearly got his pistol out from under the desk. Kelly's reflexes were the only thing that kept any of them from getting shot. She fired what the team had dubbed the "Meh-inator" at the secretary, frying the particular skill complex she was thinking of. Suddenly, the secretary's hold on the pistol became wobbly, as if he couldn't hold the thing steady anymore. "What's happening?" he asked as the muzzle of the pistol was placed against his head.

"You were just about to tell us where the OWCA headquarters entrance was," Kelly replied.

"But I can't! That's not what the Major told me to do! He said-" the secretary froze as the machine flashed again. "I would never betray my-" _ZAP! _"I could never forgive myself if-" _ZAP! _"But you'll kill them if I-" _ZAP! _"What about a peaceful agreement? We could-" _ZAP! _"That flashing light is rather annoying. I'm gonna have to ask you to-"_ ZAP!_ "Why you little-!" _ZAP! _"Alright. Down the hall, to the right, down the stairs. But it's locked, so-" he was cut off as another shot hit him.

Kelly looked up at Lucky-5, who lowered her pistol. "Let's go," she ordered the others as they bypassed the body, paying no heed to the "Employees only" signs along the way.

A group of four burly men rounded the corner as the came closer to their destination. "It's them!" one shouted as the others rushed into combat with the group. Kelly quickly switched the machine to spread shot and full automatic fire before unloading into the men, who suddenly dropped to the ground, the others stepping over them.

"Wow," Lucky-1 commented. "They must be a complete waste of salary if their only skill is breathing."

Kelly and the others chuckled as they descended the stairs, only to have it blocked by a steel door. Kelly placed her hand on it. "Hmm... I'd say about five inches thick," she noted out loud. "How much you guys bet this thing can knock it out?" she held up the Meh-inator.

Lucky-1 grinned. "Let's get ready to destroy them," he told the rest of the group, and the other members of Lucky Thirteen unslung their packs. Each unzipped their pack to reveal one of their own firearms and a lot of extra ammo. Lucky-1 smacked a clip into his compact assault rifle and aimed it at the door. "Squad, sign off."

"2, here," Lucky-2 levelled a shotgun at the door.

"3, ready," Lucky-3 slid a clip into each SMG she held.

"4, good," Lucky-4 gripped a machine gun in his hands.

"5, ready to kick some ass," Lucky-5 pulled out a grenade launcher.

"6 and 8, both ready," both Lucky-6 and Lucky-8 carried assault rifles.

"9, good to go," Lucky-9 raised a small minigun at the door.

"10 through 12, here," Lucky-10, -11, and -12 all flipped out pistols and knives.

"Right then," Kelly leveled the Meh-inator at the door and shot the hinges of it before Lucky-9 slammed her shoulder into it, sending it flying across the room.

"We need to cut the power!" Lucky-1 yelled as Lucky-9 sprayed the receptionist's desk with lead, the shots cutting through anyone on the other side of it.

"Already on it!" Lucky-8 replied as he climbed over the desk, sweeping his rifle back and forth to make sure to mop up any survivors. Once on the other side, put on his three-lensed night vision goggles and switched them on. "Everyone got their goggles on?"

After the series of confirmations from the team, Lucky-8 pulled a switch, shutting off power to the entire facility.

"Emergency power online in five minutes," an automated voice spoke as the rest of the team moved quietly through the corridor.

_Five minutes will be more than enough for us_, Lucky-2 boasted before scanning around the corner, just as Kelly spotted three animals with fedoras on their heads sprinting towards them. "Get down!" she shouted, and pushed Lucky-2 out of the way as she held down the trigger on the Meh-inator. The three agents fell to the ground, unconscious. Lucky-1 knelt beside one of them.

"Second division," he announced, "Acronym's division. We've got about 49 agents left to deal with, plus their assorted human staff."

The Meh-inator fired again, "Make that... 45," Kelly replied as she stepped over the bodies of some other agents that had tried to sneak up behind them.

Her companions grinned at this before setting out once again.

-4 minutes later-

"One minute until emergency power's gonna kick in!" Kelly shouted to her squad mates as they lined up at the final door. "Let me see how many are in there!" She placed her hand on a wall, allowing part of her mind to interface with the security cameras in the room. What she saw surprised her: three animal agents and five humans were left in the gigantic control room. Perhaps the smoke they'd added to the air vents had actually worked, since the tally of their victims hadn't reached the expected number. "Right," she turned back to her squad, "We've got two bodyguards, Monogram, Acronym, Monogram's intern, both Agent P's, and an unknown agent. Actually," she recalled the OWCA roster, "Make that three Agent P's. There's the Chihuahua, the Platypus, and the Potted Plant." she snickered at the final "Agent P". "Kill everyone except Monogram. And try and keep the platypus. I'm interested to see what it does."

"You heard her!" Lucky-1 shouted. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Lucky-9 shouted, and fired the last rounds of her minigun into the door, ripping part of it apart.

"I said 'go', not tell them we're here!" Lucky-1 shouted as Kelly fired of the Meh-inator at the door.

"What are you waiting for?" Kelly shouted, "Go! Go! Go!" And with that, she smashed through the door as if it was made of paper, her squad following her through the breach.

The Meh-inator flashed as the spread hit many different things, all completely random. That was, until one spread caught Pinky in it, and the dog dropped down onto all fours, yelping and chasing its tail. The Perry turned to try and help Pinky only to be caught in the next blast. For Perry, it felt horrible, as if part of his soul was being sucked away. His final thought before being reverted to a mindless animal for the rest of his life was _Doofenshmirtz..._

And then it was all over. Lucky-2 had already gunned down both of the bodyguards, and Lucky-10 was leading Acronym out of the room for her slightly private execution. Monogram and his intern, Carl, were both being restrained, mainly to keep them from harming themselves by doing anything stupid.

"Carl," the major whispered to his intern, "don't try anything here. It's a needless waste of life if you do. These agents are already on a hair trigger, and we need as many allies as we can get before we do anything. Maybe if we can get Agent P to help us out-" he was cut off as Lucky-12 viciously smashed a boot into the side of his head.

"Quiet, you!" he ordered the major, who fell silent.

"That's no way to treat a superior officer!" Carl shouted at him. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Really, kid?" Lucky-12 asked, "You think you're gonna make me?"

Carl's blood had been running hot this entire time, and now his emotions got the best of him. "Yeah!"

Lucky-12 laughed harshly before backhanding Carl across the face, sending him to the ground. "Course you would. You're just the perfect little pawn, now aren't you?" he sneered at the intern who was probably around three or four years his senior. "Well, go ahead. No holds barred. Let's see if you can beat anyone, foolish boy."

Carl leapt up as the other released him, and began to get ready to fight. And then he turned to run for the control panel. "Carl! What are you doing?" Monogram shouted as Lucky-12 raised his gun.

"The self-destruct function can take them down with-" Carl shouted in pain as the bullet hit him in the shoulder blade, slumping forward only a few feet away from the control panel. Lucky-12 got up behind him and twisted his injured arm back behind him, making him yelp in pain.

"Planning on trying to sacrifice yourself for the good of the OWCA?" Lucky-12 spit in his face. "Let me tell you something, kid. That won't happen. You will die, and we will leave this base with your leader and set the entire thing on fire. Face it kid, you've lost."

Carl looked up at him, "The OWCA will never lose! Danville won't fall for Doofenshmirtz's twisted schemes! Ever!"

Kelly laughed out loud at this, "_That's _what you think? You think we're working for _Doofenshmirtz_? How naive do you make them around here, Monogram?"

Lucky-12 grinned evilly, "Too bad, kid. Looks like you'll never see the full plan... at least, not from this world."

Monogram watched as the younger boy leveled the firearm at Carl's head even as he felt a bit of pain in his side. "Sweet dreams, Major," Kelly's voice filled his ears and his vision swam.

The final noise he heard was a gunshot. Then the darkness overtook his eyes and his mind was no more.

**A/N: … So yeah…. Hey, I **_**did**_** warn you guys about character death, so no one start flaming about that. **

**I'm actually interested to see how many of you guys catch the super-secret shoutout I made near the beginning of the chapter…**

**Anywho, that's pretty much it. Sorry it took so long, we've got finals coming up here, and I didn't really have any computer time anyway…**

**Oh, and this chapter **_**was**_** beta-ed, so give it up for Lancelot!**

**Lancelot's Notes: OH HAI WURLD! Sorry for being late. Real life got in the way. Too busy Dividing by Zero, Punching out Cthulu, and Breaking the Fourth Wall.**

**Yep. Cause that's how we roll. Hopefully I'll be able to put up the next chapter sometime soon, but knowing me, don't count on it. :)**

**-Terra**


	6. And So It Begins

**A/N: And I finally got back to this! I know, I'm cutting it pretty close here, but it IS still June, so it's all good. Anyway, my thanks to EmperorDoofenshmirtz for giving this a look over since Lancelot wasn't here at the time. Another warning: from this point on, this will get darker and darker, so those who don't like should turn back now. See ya at the end of the chapter!**

Chapter 5: And So It Begins

There had been many things going through Phineas' mind ever since he got home from school and told his parents about what had happened. At first, they'd been furious with him for fighting in the first place, but when he began to describe the reasons for the fight, it had eased their anger. As of now, he had been sent up to his room for the better part of the afternoon. Of course, he hadn't told them about the letter, or where he was going tonight. That would have only upset them even more. This needed to be done in private. He'd rather he didn't have to play the game of deception with his parents, but it needed to be done if he could take Lawr out of action.

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone, which buzzed on his bedside table. He flopped down onto his bed, and opened up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey Phineas," Isabella replied, "So... whatcha doooin'?"

Phineas grinned at her, even though she couldn't see. Then the idea hit him. "Isabella, I know what I'm going to do for the next few minutes."

"Uh-huh... it just doesn't sound the same," Isabella noted, "But I can wait."

Phineas set down the phone before grabbing a few assorted tools and materials off his desk. Isabella could hear the clanking of metal on her end of the line before Phineas picked the phone up again. "Do you think you could try and select that video talk thing on your phone? What was it called, FaceChat?" he asked.

"Sure Phineas," she replied as she pressed the button on her phone, "But I don't see what that's going to do since-" she was cut off when her phone began to hum. Suddenly, the camera on the phone glowed with energy, and an image of Phineas came out of it, no more than two or three feet away from her. "That's awesome!" she exclaimed as Luther passed by, looking in to see what she was talking about.

"Is that-" Luther began, before grinning widely, "It is! Phineas, hold on for a second!" He ran back to his room, searching for something.

"He's rather happy after getting in-school suspension," Phineas noted, grinning at Isabella.

"This happens all the time to him. He's just glad that he didn't get expelled, like he did from his previous schools," Isabella replied, just as Luther entered the room with some odd-looking device.

"All right, just hold still," Luther attached the device to the phone's camera. "Now Phineas, you might feel a bit of a tingling sensation, but that'll be normal. Just watch out for any bouts of nausea," Luther told him as he closed the door to the bedroom.

"Why would that be?" Phineas asked him, an eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's what happens to most people when their molecules are split apart, forced through a machine, converted into data, and then forced out the other end of another similar machine, then converted back into molecules, and reformed into their original selves. Now hold still, this won't hurt a bit," Luther told him. "Scratch that it will hurt, but not as much as if you do move."

Phineas' eyes widened. "Luther, what are you doing? We don't even know if that will work!"

Luther was grinning like a maniac. "Only one way to find out!" he replied and pressed the button before anyone else could react.

There was a flash of light before there was darkness. Isabella opened her eyes to see her brother on her right and Phineas on her left, both of them slowly recovering from what had just happened. She sat up, rubbing her head before taking in her surroundings. The device Luther had used had placed the trio in a beautiful field, filled with amazingly green grass and other plants of all shapes, colors, and sizes. Phineas rolled over onto his hands and knees, coughing for a few seconds before standing up and offering his hand to Isabella, who gladly took it. Luther just grinned and placed his hands behind his head and rested in the grass, his mind just drifting.

Phineas sat up, rubbing his head, "Ow."

"This is beautiful, Luther," Isabella told her brother, ignoring Phineas for a one of the first times in her life. "What made you choose this?"

Luther cracked open one eye to look at his sister, "Eh, thought you guys'd like it. Seeing as how lovey-dovey you were in the cafeteria today." He grinned at his sister.

Phineas laughed nervously, "Yeah... about that..."

Luther pushed himself up onto his elbows, "Whatcha got, Phineas?"

They were interrupted when they heard someone step up to them, his hazy outline showing he was there, but not in the simulation. "Phineas?" Ferb raised an eyebrow, "What do you think you're doing?"

Phineas grinned sheepishly, "Sorry Ferb. Luther was just testing a new invention."

Ferb looked at Luther, he sat up. "Did I make your room a meadow too?" he asked. Ferb nodded. "Oops. I'm still working out the kinks, but the basic premise works just fine. Looks like I'd have to terminate the connection to end the simulation. Hold on..." Luther picked up Isabella's phone. "One of two thins will happen when I hit the button. Either Phineas' phone doesn't transport him back, or it does. You ready, Phineas?"

"Sure," Phineas replied, "Just make sure to meet up at the edge of the football field around 9:45, 9:50 or so. And if you could, spread the word about that to the others."

"Understood," Luther replied before hitting the 'end call' button on Isabella's phone, making Phineas disappear.

As he put Isabella's phone down, he sat back on her bed, sighing. "Surprises you, doesn't it?" Isabella asked him.

Luther looked at her, "What, how we didn't expect ourselves to be going out to fight our classmates after school? I'd suppose you're right. But don't worry about that. I'll keep you safe."

Isabella giggled. "You sounded like you were my boyfriend just now," her mouth cracked into a smile.

Luther rolled his eyes. "You've gotta be kidding me," he replied, "However, until you do have a boyfriend, I'll be your protector."

Isabella smiled at him, "You mean 'until Phineas is my boyfriend', right? Because besides him, I'm not going to have another guy."

Luther merely shrugged his shoulders, "People change."

It was Isabella's turn to roll her eyes, "Whatever. Don't you have some people to contact?"

"Hey! It wasn't just me! Phineas said you too," Luther replied, "Don't think you'll be able to push all your work onto me."

Isabella sighed, "Fine. I'll get the girls, you get the guys. Oh, and Luther?" she playfully punched him in the shoulder, "I was only kidding about that part."

Luther nodded, "Sure you were."

Isabella laughed, "Come on, Luther. I might be a teenager, but I'm not _that_ lazy."

"Fair enough," Luther replied. Then two walked out the door, each one already dialing a number on their phone.

**ΩΩ**

"Hey Mom! I'm going out!" Phineas shouted from the doorway, no idea where his parents were. "I'll be back before 11!"

"Ok! Stay safe, Phineas!" his mom shouted down the stairs as she heard the door slam. She turned away from what she was doing to see Ferb leaning against a wall, his mind wandering. "Ferb? Why aren't you with Phineas?"

Ferb turned to his stepmother. "I had other plans," he replied just as the doorbell rang, "I'll get it."

Linda followed Ferb down the steps as he opened the door to two figures. "Jeremy," he nodded to the blonde-haired boy as he stepped inside, "Lisa," he smiled a bit at the girl who stood on his stoop. "You want to come inside?"

Lisa shook her head. "I was thinking we could just go for a stroll, if you don't mind," she replied. Ferb raised an eyebrow skeptically at her in response. "What?" she asked. "I can't ask a friend to just take a walk with me... oh. No, I didn't mean it like that at all!"

Ferb chuckled before placing a hand on her shoulder and guiding her out. "Remember to be back before 11 Ferb!" Linda called after him as he shut the door. She knew he knew already, but it was just force of habit to remind him.

She then turned to the clock. It had already been twenty minutes since Phineas had left, and by now, Candace was nearly ready to go to that fancy Fall dance she had been worrying over for who knew how long. The past weekend, she'd actually gone through nearly every dress in the mall, trying to find the one that would be perfect for the cotillion, if that's what it was called. Finally, she'd found the perfect one for the dance, and now she had been giggling like mad at the mere mention of it. Linda knew she was still entertaining the thought that at the end of every date, Jeremy would propose to her, but with each date and no proposal, the idea had become more a fantasy than reality. She had eventually accepted that she'd have to wait for her boyfriend to make his move, as she knew he would. Linda looked over at the clock. Jeremy had come early for some reason, and as of now, he and Candace sat on the couch in the living room, just talking to her. It had been ten minutes since Ferb had left, Linda thought for whatever reason, and shook her head. Why was she keeping meticulous track of how long ago her children had left home? Was her brain trying to tell her something? She had no idea, but as her thoughts came back to the present, she looked to see Jeremy stand up, and then quickly drop down on one knee, presenting Candace with a ring. _Oh my gosh!_ Linda thought, _He's doing it!_

"Candace..." Jeremy took a deep breath, "Will you marry me?"

Candace looked at him, almost hyperventilating in excitement. "Oh Jeremy," she began, before a red feather stuck into her neck. That was when all hell broke loose.

Candace sunk back into the couch, the tranquilizer dart coated with just enough to paralyze her. Before Jeremy or Linda could do anything, a tube was funneled down the chimney, and a vapor that Linda identified as short-use chloroform filled the entire house. She had no idea what hit her first, the butt of the pistol from the man who'd snuck up behind her, or the vapor, but one of them hurt.

She came to in what seemed to be seconds, but from the clocks, it had been around five minutes. For whatever reason, she was being dragged outside of the house by a boy no older than Lisa, and had a collar strapped around her neck. The boy finally came to a stop, and she was able to get a bit of a bearing on her surroundings. In front of her house, there was a fleet of black vehicles, many of them cargo vans. There were a few sleek black cars and a few helicopters, but mainly three or four vans. Her thoughts were interrupted as she was slammed into the side of a car, her head contacting the metal harshly.

There was a rumble, and a pitch black Lamborghini Murcielago pulled up the street, its passengers nearly too large for the car. There was dead silence as the car growled to a halt, and a man who Linda would have sworn was close to seven feet tall stepped out of the luxury car. He brushed the boy aside, "I'll take it from here, 8," he told the boy, who automatically let go of Linda and backed off from her. The man lifted Linda up so that she was eye level with him, her feet nearly a foot off the ground. "Linda Flynn," the man addressed her, "you have been found to be a threat to this entire universe. For this reason, you will be taken and we will try to save you. Now, what powers do your children have?"

Linda looked away. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

The man growled and backhanded her across the face, "Don't give me that bu- those lies. You know. I could extract the information out of you, but I'd rather not be making vegetables right now. They're too bothersome to sustain."

"If only Vastile were here," the boy named '8' absent-mindedly commented. "She'd be able to get more than enough out of her."

Linda's eyes widened, "Lisa... she's part of this too?"

The giant didn't even bother with replying before pinching one of her nerves and tossing her into the van, where she promptly blacked out beside her husband.

The other man in the car climbed out, allowing the car to rise back up off the ground. Almost too late, Lucky-8 noticed the man, and he began to back away before he was grabbed by the throat and lifted up above the lofty man's head. "Supervisor!" the other man shouted, "Put him down. We'll still have use for him yet."

The Supervisor nodded and tossed Lucky-8 aside, his unbridled strength sending the young boy a few yards across the lawn, where he rolled onto his hands and knees, spitting blood and a few teeth onto the grass. "Whoops," the Supervisor grinned viciously, "I ought to have better control of that."

The other man, the Director, shook his head, "Save the excess cruelty for our targets. When 8 becomes of no use to us, do with him what you will. But only then, not any sooner. Now, do you have the Van Stomm target?"

The Supervisor nodded before opening the trunk and pulling out a bruised and near-unconscious Jorge Van Stomm. "He put up a bit of a fight," the Supervisor replied.

The Director pinched the bridge of his nose, "Is there _anyone_ you don't get into a fight with that you come damn near to killing?"

The Supervisor shrugged, "I haven't been able to lay into someone for such a long time that the urge is just there. You want me to just break in and take out that woman of his too?"

The Director sighed, "Go ahead... just don't kill her. Apparently, she isn't from another dimension, so she shouldn't be much of a threat." The Supervisor handed Jorge to the Director, who tossed him in a van too. "Oh, and see if you can get that letter they got from the twelfth dimension. You know what it's for, so I don't need to explain it to you."

The Supervisor nodded, "Right. I'll be back, then."

No sooner had he left, that two groups of younger agents, one led by Kelly, made their way towards the second van, dragging unconscious adults in their wake. A letter was handed to him by the girl. "They had this with them. You instructed us to find it, and the piece that was given to the Sweetwaters has been obtained."

"Good, Kelly. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get that woman out of her house," the Director replied, nodding to the house before him. "She's to have the final piece."

Kelly nodded, "We'll wait for you in the van, sir."

The Director nodded, grinning as he remembered the one time he'd been here. It had been quite fun, but he had been here to plant sensors inside most of the houses on the street so that the Agency could map them out for this specific occasion. He lifted up his goggles and placed them on his forehead as he tried the door, which was locked. _At least one of them has any amount of common sense_, the Director grinned as he put his shoulder into the door, smashing it off its hinges in only three smashes. _Huh_, he noted, looking at the door, _I would have expected a thicker door, at least. Oh well, I suppose you can't have everything. _"Come out, come out, wherever you are," the Director grinned as he began to walk through the house, then stopped and slid into a crevice, accessing his own power, and going through the target's mind and looking through their eyes. He nearly laughed out loud when he realized that the target was actually backing up towards him, a pistol clenched in her hands. The Director snarled in disgust at the woman, who he could tell already feared the intruder, whoever it was. "About time," he leaned and whispered in her ear before twisting her free hand behind her back. "Drop the gun."

Vivian yelped. "Who are you?" she squeaked as he twisted it even harder.

"You won't be asking the questions here, so don't speak unless spoken to. You got it?" The Director growled. Vivian nodded. "Good. Now drop the gun."

Vivian did so, and as soon as she did, the Director pushed her out into the hall and spun her around to face him. "You're going to tell me everything."

Vivian tried to shrink back at the man at least a head taller than her, but he held her steadily, his fingers digging into the meat of her shoulders. "What do you want to know?"

"Where did Luther come from? And before you even think about resisting," the Director trailed off as he unbuttoned a sheath and pulled out a knife, its seven-inch-long blade gleaming in little light there was.

"I don't know what- AAA!" Vivian screamed as the Director slashed open one of her upper arms, "You _bastardo_!" she screamed, "Why did you-" she was cut off as the Director placed the blade against her throat.

"Now I'm sure you wouldn't want to leave poor little Isabella orphaned, now would you? Her father's long gone, and you're her only source of family. I'm sure you'd rather you see her again- so why don't you answer the question?" the Director spoke smoothly.

"He-He's from the twelfth dimension," Vivian finally answered.

"Good, good..." the Director nodded. "Now, what kind of powers do your children, Luther included, have?"

"Powers?"

"Do you really want me to kill you right here?"

Vivian sighed, "I understand. Isabella has powers over the four elements: water, air, earth, and fire. Luther has control over lightning and can create force fields." The knife cut into her flesh a bit. "Ok! Ok! He can also absorb energy from his own dimension and use it here. But that is all."

"Good. Final question: where is the letter you got with Luther?"

"That's it? You want to know where a piece of paper is?" Vivian scoffed.

The Director shook his head, "Just answer the damn question."

Vivian's shoulders sagged, "It's in a safe-keeping box. Take me there, and I'll give it to you. Then will you leave me alone?"

The Director sighed. "Fine. Just give me the letter."

They made their way upstairs to her room, where she knelt and pulled the box out from under her bed and unlocked it. "Here you are," she handed the Director the letter, which he quickly flipped over, not even bothering to read the heartfelt letter.

"Good... It's exactly what I'd expected," the Director murmured. His mind flashed into Vivian's for a split second, making sure she wasn't trying anything. "Put the bar down unless you want to get shot," he told her, leveling his pistol at Vivian.

"Fine," Vivian replied, dropping the bar on the ground. "Now could you go? You said you would."

The Director pretended to think for a second, "No."

"But you said-"

"Never gave you my word on it. Therefore, it's quite easy for me to contradict myself," she stared at him wide-eyed. "Basically, I lied."

"_Maldita sea_! _Maldita sea al infierno_!" Vivian screamed at him as she tried to charge him, "I'll kill you!"

The Director merely turned and slammed his fist in a vicious right cross against her face, knocking her out cold. The Director laughed at her, "Sure." He then picked up the body and turned to head back downstairs to the van. As he exited the door, he saw that the Supervisor also had had a successful mission. _It's all in Alpha's hands now_, the Director thought before loading the woman into the van, climbing back into his Murcielago and driving off.

**ΩΩ**

Lisa and Ferb had already entered a forest, the darkness pressing in on them. It was a truly beautiful sight, with the moon their only source of light in the area. Despite herself, Lisa found herself trying to move closer to Ferb, each step she took getting her slightly closer to the green-haired boy. She had no idea what was happening, but that didn't matter. She'd figure out what had happened once they got back to base. Then she'd have all the time in the world.

"Lisa, was there something you wanted to tell me?" Ferb asked her, staring at her.

"Um... no. Why do you ask?" Lisa gave him a quizzical look.

"Just assumed that since you took us into the forest, you had something to say," the Brit replied smoothly.

Lisa rolled her eyes, "Mm-hm. I suppose you were going to have me tell you my life story or something?"

Ferb chuckled, "Only if you were planning on it." He decided to change the subject, "But seriously, why did you bring us out here, of all places? I know the park isn't crowded at all at this time of day. Or rather, night."

Lisa shook her head, "It still amazes me how much I can get you to speak. How come you're not like this more often?"

Ferb grinned widely at her, "Maybe there's something different about you."

Lisa raised an eyebrow, "What brought this on?" _This is working out perfectly_, she thought to herself, _The dream-state is affecting him just how it needs to be. Now all I need to do is-_ she froze when Ferb leaned closer to her. _Not. Good._

Ferb leaned in towards her, "I don't know why, Lisa, but I just think I get you. The lancer. The snarker. All that character... It's actually rather amusing to just sit back and listen to you debate with another person. And I'm not completely sure about this... but I think that I might... like you. As a bit more than a friend."

_Good God_, Lisa thought. _This was most definitely NOT how it was supposed to happen. How to go about doing this..._

"Doing what?" Ferb asked, making her jump. "What were you going to go about doing?"

_Damn... his powers. He can see into my mind! _she thought.

"What? What are you talking about?" Ferb asked before he understood. "Lisa, don't tell anyone! That's a secret that will make my family get hunted if anyone hears about-" he froze. "Y-You... you're one of them..." he backed away.

"Ferb? Did you just see what I think you saw?" Lisa asked, her face contorting from its mask of happiness into an all-consuming rage. "That's it. No more nice girl." She grabbed him by the shoulders and made sure to look at his eyes, even if he tried to close them. "Ferb! Look at me!"

Unbidden, Ferb did so- such was the power of Lisa's Silvertongue- and was filled with an inescapable feeling of dread. "N-N-No... St-St-Stay back..." he stuttered, trying to get away from Lisa. "Wh-What are you doing to me?"

Lisa let out a bark of laughter. "This? This was my hallucination power. Before, I was using it to induce a dream-like state. Now... now I get to have some fun with nightmares."

Ferb actually whimpered at the thought, "Please, Lisa. You know them, I know that much. But _please_ don't use them. I'm begging you here. I can see that there's one small spark of hope bundled up inside of you and-"

Lisa grabbed the side of his head and actually smashed it into a tree trunk. "STAY OUT OF MY MIND!" she screamed at him. The Brit looked up at her, hoping for some kind of respite, but Lisa brought her knee under his chin. "DON'T. TOUCH. MY. THOUGHTS!" she roared as she accentuated each word with another blow to the boy. She knelt beside the grass-haired teen, procuring a syringe from a pocket Ferb hadn't noticed until now. "And now you know what I'm about to do, right?" her voice was a deadly whisper.

Ferb tried to reason with her, "Lisa, you don't have to do this. I know there must be some side of you that knows this is wrong. Please, listen to that side. Whatever it is that's controlling you, I can help you defeat it."

Lisa laughed in his face, "You think you could defeat the Agency? How deluded are you? Besides, I don't need any help. It's _you_ who should be worried. We can kill any of your friends just as easily as I can to you. And soon, you'll wish you'd been killed," she replied. "That whole school girl thing? I'm actually quite surprised none of you saw through it. Apparently the Agency was good enough to make my cover that much more believable. Have to thank Randall when I get back. But anyway, playtime's over. Time for some nightmares."

Ferb tried to sit up while shrinking back before Lisa's head suddenly twitched, and her eyes became a bit more distant. "Wait, you were in league with Lawr this whole time?" Ferb asked, staring at her with serious pain in his eyes.

"Damn it, Ferb!" Lisa roared and smashed her fist between his eyes, making the back of his head crack against the tree trunk. Before he could do anything else, her elbow hit his temple, knocking him on the ground once again. The last thing he felt was a needle puncture his flesh, then everything faded away.

**ΩΩ**

Phineas crept forward from the bushes, his breath misting in the cool air. He'd been waiting for nearly ten minutes, and had gotten no confirmation of any arrival from the others. From his vantage point, he could see Lawr, Clancy, and a few others standing in the field, waiting for him. He sighed as he began to stand up from his crouched position, ready to step out of the woods, before a hand appeared on his shoulder.

"And what do you think you're doing, going into a fight without us?" Phineas turned to see Luther grinning widely at him, "We've been ready for a while Phineas. We were just waiting for you to call one of us."

Buford's hearty laugh could be heard from further back, "What'd you think, Dinna Bell? We gonna let you have all the fun?"

"I just hope there are some girls ready to fight," Adyson's voice drifted over the group. "I'm itching to lay into someone." This received a series of affirmations from the other two girls.

"I am just hoping this does not take too long," Baljeet could also be heard, "I am not inclined to violence, but if it must happen, I will cheer for you, Phineas. Either way, we all have school tomorrow, and it would not do if we were sleep-deprived in class, especially those of us who do not have in school suspension."

"Lighten up, Baljeet," Jarv replied, "It'll just be we go there, give them a good stompin', and head home and rest up for tomorrow. Nothin' to it. So letz stop muckin' about and go and give 'em a stompin' like dell never forget!"

"It always amuses me how your voice degenerates," Isabella told him, "Makes you sound much more like a brute."

Though no one could see it, they could all tell that Luther was grinning, "Well den, c'mon 'umies! Ere we go! Ere we go!"

And with that, they started down the hill, Phineas leading the way with Isabella on his left and Luther on his right.

Lawr could be seen staring at them with quite a bit of disinterest. _Beta, you've got Target Secundus?_

It was followed by a few seconds of silence before Lisa replied _I just tranq'd him. He knows about the mission from his powers, though. _

Lawr frowned as Phineas and his friends got closer. _Understood. Was that his only power he exhibited?_

_As far as I know. Though we ought to be on the lookout. He could suddenly turn into a liquid or something when we're not looking._

Lawr nodded. _We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Beta._

_Then burn it? _he could tell she was grinning just from her tone.

_Of course we'll burn it. What else are bridges good for?_

_Well, checking to see if women are witches, for one... but I get it. I'll see you guys when we get to the rendezvous point? _

_That you will, Beta. You can count on that._

Lawr snapped his attention back to the group. "Well well well," he smirked. "You actually did bring the slut brigade along." He could see Phineas, Buford, and Luther tense up. Good. Emotional sparring would be quite fun later on. "Now, since we can't have the pretty little girls getting their hands dirty, we'll just have them watch," he sneered, doing his best to seem insanely pompous and arrogant.

"You're right," Luther replied, his fists bunching up, "Wouldn't want to hit a girl while I'm smashing your face in, now would I?"

Lawr laughed as he motioned for the others to gather around him, "Always the most overconfident, Luther. I've been waiting to get into a no-holds-barred fight with you guys."

Phineas raised an eyebrow. "You've got four, we've got five. You're calling _us_ overconfident?"

Lawr looked up, "Hm?" He named off the combatants present, "Clancy, Taylan, and Thaddeus... hm. I wonder what's keeping- oh, there you are Siegfried."

Baljeet looked up at his mentor. "Siegfried, you are part of this group?" he asked, his eyes opened wide.

Siegfried grinned at the Indian teen. "Most certainly, Baljeet. These guys are family, so you mess with them, you mess with me."

Baljeet sighed, "I understand, _ehemaligen Vorbild_. It is too bad, really. I had not wanted to make you an enemy."

Siegfried cracked his knuckles. "Too late for that," he replied, before glancing to the side to see the girls on the sidelines. "Now you just be good little useless cheerleaders and stay there. I'd rather not hit a girl."

Clancy grinned wolfishly. "Don't you worry, girls. We've got some stuff for you too," he told them as Kelly and Sienna stepped out of the woods, both of them grinning evilly.

"You girls ready to get some fight on?" Kelly asked, her eyes nearly burning with hatred.

"You don't want to do this," Isabella tried to warn them. "You're outnumbered and have no idea what you're getting yourselves into."

Sienna laughed harshly. "Even if we didn't, you know who's got even more of an idea? Lisa."

All the kids froze. "Lisa?" Isabella was able to squeak out, "What do you mean? She's our friend. She'd never do something like that."

Lawr laughed, "Actually, she just knocked out Ferb. Got pictures to prove it."

"This can't be true..." Phineas mumbled, "Let me see the pictures!"

"Then get your pointy face over here," Lawr retorted as he pulled out a cell phone. Phineas did so, and Lawr shoved the phone in his face, "See? Pictures! Se-" Lawr cut himself off as he smashed his fist into Phineas' head.

The groups erupted into chaos as Phineas wiped the blood from his mouth and slowly stood up. "You're finished, Flynn." Lawr growled at him. "We know what you all are, supers."

There was a hushed silence, before Phineas laughed nervously. "What?"

"Don't play games with me. You are supers. We were ordered to take you in. We will not fail."

The silence was suddenly broken with Luther, who asked, "You went after our parents too, didn't you?" Lawr nodded. Any kind of inhibitions Luther had beforehand were broken there, and he let out an unintelligible roar.

His fist travelled straight at Lawr's face before it was intercepted by Clancy, who grabbed it and squeezed tightly. Lawr laughed, "As if," he snarled before slamming his fist into Luther's gut. Phineas just stood there in shock, not being able to take it all in. That was, until Buford roared something and smashed into Clancy, who was sent flying ten yards away.

"Super strength, huh?" Clancy shook his head to get out any disorientation, "Well then." He caught Buford off guard when ice shot out of his fingertips and froze the boy's legs and arms around his body. "Now time for some fun with electronics!" he laughed as lightning shot from his fingertips, wrapping around Buford. The bully cried out as his body spasmed from the electricity coursing through him. The only thing that kept him from getting killed was Luther, who erected a force field to protect his friend.

Lawr lifted Luther up by the shoulders before delivering a thunderous right cross to the younger boy's face. "You think you can stop us?" he roared as he punched Luther in the gut before sending a knee into the boy's face. He grabbed Luther around the neck, lifting him onto his toes. "What makes you think you can win?" Luther responded by spitting blood in Lawr's face. Another right cross, and Luther was thrown a few yards across the field.

The male Garcia-Shapiro raised his head just in time to see Annabell put into a sleeper hold and collapse to the ground. "Annabell!" he cried, trying to get up only to be kicked in the ribs by Lawr. Luther rolled with it, coming up on his hands and knees, only to see Isabella and Kelly engaged in a battle that was heating up as he watched. As he watched, Kelly gained the upper hand, knocking Isabella on the ground and placing a boot over her throat. Isabella reached up futilely, her hands grasping at empty air. "No!" Luther shouted, making to get up before Lawr spun him around with a fist to his shoulder blade and grabbing him by the neck.

"Now now," Lawr wagged a finger at him as if he were a naughty child, "Let our sisters have some fun too."

"Stay...away...from...HER!" Luther roared, his fist connecting with Lawr's temple, knocking the larger boy back a few steps. By now, Luther's entire form was glowing with energy. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!" he screamed, lightning encasing Lawr and lifting him off the ground, nearly setting his clothes on fire from the intensity. That was, until Lawr began to absorb the heat and conjure a ball of fire in his hand, which Luther was forced to dodge as it was thrown his way. Before either could react, another joined in, Phineas ripping the ground up and lifting rocks out of it before sending them flying at the two, unable to control their exact direction with enough precision to do much damage. Luther was forced to create a barrier to keep himself from being hit, but Lawr was somehow able to dodge all of them, ending up a few feet in the air above Luther when the torrent stopped. It only took Luther a split second to realize what would happen, but even so, he could do nothing about it. Lawr smashed into the field with enough force to crack it open, bringing Luther to his knees.

Lawr landed in front of him and sauntered over, grasping Luther's wind pipe and squeezing, "Yield."

Luther tried to muster some kind of retaliation, but it was just too much. The energy had given him only enough power to go on as long as he could, no more. He could see Isabella, back on her feet, fighting back against Kelly, but still losing badly. "Never," he whispered, passing in and out of consciousness, "I will never yield to the likes of you, _Alpha_."

Lawr's eyes widened and he grabbed Luther by the shoulders. "How did you know that?" he yelled at the younger boy. "Tell me how you learned that!" Luther smiled before his eyelids fluttered and he passed out. "Damn it!" Lawr roared as he punched the ground, depressing it further than it already was.

_Alpha?_ Lucky-7 asked, _Is there a problem?_

Lawr sighed, _No, just go ahead and tranq the rest of them. We'll go ahead and take them in now._

_What about that girl, Adyson? _Lucky-13 asked, _Sigma's in her form too, and I can't distinguish between the two._

_Never mind them. I'll take care of them, _Lawr replied before speaking to the strike force. _Alpha to all units, try and distance yourself from your targets. We're just gonna tranq them._

_Roger that, Alpha,_ the rest of the squad replied.

_Oh, and Sigma, turn back to yourself. Don't want to get tranq'd, do you?_ Lawr added as he watched Sienna turn back to herself. He went back to addressing the members of "Lucky Thirteen", _You've got your targets, snipers?_

_That we do, Alpha. Standing by for permission to fire,_ Lucky-13 answered.

_Permission granted,_ Lawr replied, and almost as soon as he'd given the order, darts filled the air, hitting their targets perfectly. Lawr nodded in satisfaction. That was as it should be. He'd been cheated by Luther for more information, but he _would_ make sure he got what he wanted, no matter what. "Alright boys and girls, let's get going to the rendezvous point. Wouldn't want to keep the Director waiting, now would we?" He was answered with a series of affirmations, and with that, he slung Luther's limp body over his shoulder and began to walk to the meeting place that the Director had specified. He opened the map one more time before discarding it and heading towards the single mountain that was slightly off in the distance. Its summit would be their pick-up point. _That's just like the Director to get the vehicles and make us walk._ In spite of himself, Lawr smiled. _Good. I needed some physical activity to get those extra pounds off._

As he passed the others, he noticed Thaddeus being carried too, and sighed. _I suppose that's what we get for having him around,_ he thought, _Even from this distance, he and Phineas look quite alike._ Then he melted into the forest with the others, leaving no sign that there had even been a fight besides the map, the disturbed grass, the small uprooted rocks, and a scorch mark in the ground.

**ΩΩ**

The Director sat on one of the benches between Candace and Jeremy, a shotgun gripped in his hands. He already knew that the parents and even these young adults were merely leverage over the teens. In fact, he had already planned to kill the parents in the first place. They were composed entirely of matter from another dimension, and from the research the Director had done, that caused instability in this dimension. To make sure such instability was lessened, the original Director, the current one's father, had made it his mission to cleanse this world of such extra-dimensional life forms, or ELFs. Such ELFs included all the adults in this van, along with their prospective mates. Even the mature half-breed, Candace, was too integrated with extra-dimensional particles to be saved. She would be discarded like the rest, even if the Director would have rathered merely filtering the influence out of her and turned her to his cause. There was no hope for her, though, and her "soul mate", as it was called these days, had seen too much to be able to hide anything. He would be either turned or killed. And this was the point to decide. The Director stepped forward to the wall that separated the driver's compartment and the storage compartment and knocked three times. The Supervisor's face appeared on a screen at his eye level, one eyebrow raised in a question the Director answered, "This is the place. Park the car and bring out the scanner." The Supervisor merely nodded, and the van ground to a halt at the side of the road.

The Director grabbed Jeremy by the arm and dragged him out of the car, noticing the rest of the fleet had stopped. Though, to be fair, it wasn't exactly a fleet. More like a few vans and a sports car. The sports car had actually been transferred over to control of Lucky-1, the only member of Lucky Thirteen present that the Director trusted enough to let him drive that car. As it turned out, the car had a dark history.

It had once belonged to part of the Unione Corse before the French police had confiscated it. The members of the Corse had seen such an act as an insult to their honor, and they politely asked the Director to kill the police force for them. Though to the Director, "politely" wasn't a word he liked to use for the French. During his multiple experiences with them, they'd shown themselves to be merely pompous bastards who would always ask an American to do the actual work. There had only been one time that the Corse had tried to pull something, and that had been the worst-planned operation in their entire history. The first had been the fact that they used robots instead of actual members, which meant they would not lose any members should they fail, but it also meant that it was much easier for the government to trace their cash flow, finding their funders and taking them out. Not only that, but the Corse had used the lowest end robots they could find instead of the best. Sure, it would have cost them more, but then the operation might have actually worked. Instead, it failed miserably with the interference of only a few young adults and the hot-headedness of the operation leader. The Director sighed. He'd come quite close to killing that girl multiple times, but when she could actually do something right, she did it right spectacularly.

The Director cleared his thoughts as he shoved the blonde-haired boy against the guardrail, motioning to the Supervisor, who pulled out the Spectral Analysis Scanner. Though it actually had had a real name, the scanner's manual and name had been lost, and so they took the name of the machine next to it, and used that as its name. Whatever its name, the machine was used to tell whether or not a person was a super. Anyone from eight thousand to nine thousand meant that the person was normal, anyone higher was a super. It was just that simple. So when the scanner came up with only 8735, the Director did not act surprised one bit, mainly because he wasn't at all.

"Well then, seems like you've actually got a choice," the Director sneered, "Not much of one, but still, you've got one."

"Oh really?" Jeremy was uncharacteristically angry, and rightfully so. This man had just maliciously turned his entire life upside down, so how was he expected to act?

The Director nodded, "You've got two choices. Join or die."

Jeremy looked over the Director's shoulder to see Candace, bound and gagged, watching, fear in her eyes. The same eyes screamed at him; _Run! _Which he decided to do.

"Wrong answer, pretty boy!" the Director shouted, and the shotgun boomed, pellets cutting through Jeremy's mauve dress shirt and digging into his shoulder blades, the force of the hit throwing him to the ground. Jeremy had just enough time to roll onto his back, only to find the muzzle of the gun pointed at his face. "So sorry," the Director laughed. "Not!"

"Candace!" Jeremy shouted, "I lo-" his words were cut off by the shotgun blast. Candace let out a muffled scream as Jeremy's head lolled back, the pellets having taken off his entire jaw, neck, and chest down to the collarbone.

The Director shook his head while making a clicking noise with his tongue. "Too bad. I sensed potential," without so much as more than a glance, he tossed the bleeding body off the edge, making sure to track its descent until it disappeared into the river, the aptly-placed waterfall preparing to send it plummeting down into the sharp rocks below. The Director strolled back over to Candace, ripping the gag from her mouth and grabbing her chin, forcing her to look up at him. "What'd you think?" the Director grinned at her as she tried to hold back the sobs.

"You bastard!" Candace screamed, struggling in the Supervisor's grasp as the adrenaline her body created overpowering the paralysis that had held her limbs before. "He had just proposed to me! My life was about to be perfect until you came in and completely screwed it up, you son of a-" she broke down before she could finish.

"Did you want to join him?" the Director mocked kindness, though Candace couldn't tell.

"Yes," she whispered. He began to holster his firearm.

"I'm sorry, did you say something? I couldn't hear you," the Director turned back.

"Yes," Candace spoke up, her voice cracking.

"Well then," the Director knelt beside her, since she had all but collapsed from shock, "it will come as a price. You want to know how much your happiness is worth?" Candace just nodded. "Then listen very carefully, because I will only offer this up once. Are you listening?" Another nod. "Your entire family will be executed, then you. They will watch each other die, knowing it was for your happiness that they are dying. And they will hate it. They will hate _you_ for it, especially since at this point they still have the slightest of chances of escaping. And they would die hating you for stealing that one chance away from them. Now, I ask you: would you like your happiness? Because if you say no, then you will close your door to him forever, never again allowing him into your heart and mind fully. So, would you rather live depressed and then be damned, or die hated and then be as happy as you could possibly be?"

Candace's reaction was swift, her hand clawing out and scratching at the Director's face. Except the instant before she did, the Director opened his mouth and spoke. But when he did, it was in a different voice. "Candace," the Director spoke in Jeremy's voice, "why are you doing this to me? Please Candace, help me!" The Director watched as Jeremy's body when over the edge, transferring himself into the sights Jeremy would have seen had he been alive. "Candace! Save me! Please!" the Director mocked a begging tone as Candace lay there, frozen as her would-be fiancée's voice still rang out. "The rocks... they're coming! They're about to-aaa!" the Director was forced to raise his voice to make this entire charade believable. But now was the final touch, the point that would begin to spin the top. "Candace... I'm dying..." he spoke, "Please Candace, why didn't you save me? You had the chance! Why? Why?" the Director was beginning to actually enjoy himself, "Th-th-that's it..." he pretended to stutter, "You didn't save me because you didn't love me, huh? But... I proposed to you! I thought-" the Director's face contorted into a mock mask of anger, when really he was laughing heartily on the inside, "Well fine! I don't love you either! I hate you!" he roared in Jeremy's voice.

Candace screamed something inaudible and threw herself away from the Director, crying her eyes out as laughter rose in the Director's throat before coming out as a hearty laugh. Candace stumbled towards the guard rail, only for the Director pull out a pistol from a nearby agent and put shots through both of her kneecaps, inciting a shrill scream of pain from the girl. "You won't get away so easily, dearie," he grinned wolfishly at her.

"Please..." Candace whimpered, "please, just kill me now."

The Director scoffed, "Death? Death would be too merciful, young woman. No, perhaps when I'm done, death will have mercy on you and allow you across the river, but until then, you will not die." He snatched up a syringe and shoved it into Candace's arm, emptying the tranquilizer into her. As Candace collapsed, the Director motioned for two agents to put her back inside. As they left, the Director climbed back into the rear, ready to keep watch. "No," he whispered in the dark, "you will beg me to kill you before this is over, but it shall not happen. I will make sure that I destroy every last ELF out here before the conversion of the half-breeds. Then _I_ will make sure that this world is a safer place. Your kind will not win, ELF. You will fall, just you wait."

And there it began that the blood of Danville began to flow, with no way of stopping it.

**A/N: It is to be noted that the Director's opinions are not my own. Just clarifying in case you guys thought it was. As for our contest… I think the only two players right now are the Emperor and Maya… anyone else feel free to join in. Now, how many of you guys love the Director? I know I love writing him. (always good to write a villain that people just hate) Well, this isn't even the beginning of his cruelty, but don't worry. You guys'll see soon enough. Anyway, once again, a shoutout to the Emperor for giving this a look over and I'll see ya guys sometime in July!**

**And don't forget to R&R! :P**

**-Terra**


	7. Some Questions Answered and More Created

**A/N: Well, I really am cutting this one close… but it's still July. Barely, but still July. Anywho, I'm short on time, so I'll be quick. Thanks to everyone for the reviews. Never would've expected to break thirty, let alone get this close to forty. Keep this up and I might break one hundred! Nah, I don't think so, but hey, who knows? It could happen. So go on and embrace the dark writings! DO EET NOUGH! Or not. But then it'd probably be pointless to read these in the first place if you didn't like it… Anyway, on with the story!**

Chapter 7: Some questions answered, and many more created. And some mental scarring too.

The roar of an engine was the first thing to reach Phineas' ears. He lifted his head up, his vision swimming, before having to stop and put it back down due to a fit of nausea. His ears pounded and his head felt like it was about to explode, but he was alive. Alive and well, he supposed, until something battered his ears, causing them to nearly burn. He tried to cover his ears, but even the slightest movement caused his head to spin. Or perhaps that was just what was happening outside. For all he knew, he was in some sort of spinning ball of doom that would crush him flat at any moment. He tried again to move his hands to his ears, only to be rewarded with a splitting headache. A hand was placed over his, and a softer voice echoed over the wall of noise that bombarded his eardrums. Trying to crack his eyes open again, they were confronted by fluorescent lighting, causing him to shut them tighter than before. Then the voice spoke again. He could tell it was saying something, but he couldn't tell what. He looked towards his feet before trying for a third time, this time succeeding. As his vision focused, a metal floor appeared. With his eyes fully open, he took a look around, realizing that he had been strapped into a long bench that nearly resembled a row of seats like that of a floor-less roller-coaster.

He opened his mouth to ask a question before someone clamped their hand over it. "Not one word," Isabella whispered to him from his right, "They might hear you." She motioned towards some more shadowy figures that also stood nearby in what seemed to be a cargo bay. Phineas nodded.

"Flynn! You say something?" a slightly familiar voice was heard, and Isabella quickly removed her hand from his mouth. Phineas turned to see Thaddeus, but not Thaddeus. Instead of normal clothing, he wore a red jumpsuit, which flexed as he breathed. He noticed the boy's stare. "You like it? Special issue from a good friend, Dr. Gunwulf Smithers. Head of R&D department, as I've heard. Isn't that right, Lawr?" he called to another figure, who stepped beside him, his black jumpsuit absorbing much of the light.

"Very true, Phlint. Now, did you have something important to ask, or was that it?" Lawr replied, his eyes watching Phineas' every move before turning to someone beside Isabella, "Because I'd rather figure out what this one was talking of before." He grabbed Luther by the chin and lifted it up, staring at the boy, who was still unconscious. "When this one wakes up, let me know. I want to be there when we interrogate him."

By now, Phineas' eyes had adjusted to the light, and he could see everyone except Ferb was awake, including his parents and many of his friends. From here, he could see the adults sitting across from the children, no more than around thirty feet away or so. From what he could gather due to the quality of the ride, Phineas suspected that they were in a cargo plane. Though of what kind, he had no idea. But everything flew out the window when Luther decided to wake up. "Were you saying something?" Luther growled as he struggled to free himself, " Or would you rather I make you spit it through broken teeth?"

Lawr laughed and set his hand on fire, holding it close to Luther's face. "You think you can get out of that?"

Luther grinned in reply before Phineas saw him actually glow and rip his hands free from the bars that kept him from undoing the clasp on his harness. Within the span of five seconds, Luther stood before Lawr, free from his chains. Almost on cue, Isabella melted through her own restraints, freeing herself in nearly the same way. She moved to undo Phineas before Luther shouted, "No! Buford next! Then Jarv, and then Phineas!"

"Right!" she replied, moving towards Buford and undoing his restraints before Kelly aimed a punch at her jaw. The resounding crack caused everyone except Luther and Lawr, who were currently engaged in a fist fight, to cringe as Isabella dropped like a stone to the ground.

Buford shouted something before ripping off the harnesses from Adyson and Jarv at the same time, tossing them aside before moving towards Annabell. Phineas' mind flared as he watched many of his friends begin to get beaten, and the restraints that held him were ripped from their place and thrown across the room. Phineas shouted something unintelligible and charged the nearest enemy, which happened to be a monster of a man. Phineas raised the restraints with his mind, keeping them rotating as he slowly walked towards the man before concentrating and turning the restraints into spikes of metal. Phineas had to admit, he had no idea how he could do this, but at that point, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Phineas had found the man responsible for this, and he planned on taking that man down. Except that train of thought ended when the man began to walk towards him, his powerful figure looking slightly familiar to Phineas. However, the boy couldn't quite place where he'd seen him before. For all he knew, it could be his father. And then, suddenly, his mind was assaulted by some kind of entity he couldn't see. He fell to his knees, strains of the entity clawing through any kind of defensive barriers that his mind had established on its own. The pieces that made it through he wished hadn't. They composed of his worst nightmares, the most horrible one being a vision of every single person's restraints flying off from the chairs. At first, it almost seemed everything was good, until the restraints reformed into spikes and began to attach his friends and family to the walls. He turned to the front to see the person responsible for such atrocities, and he couldn't believe it. It was him. He was the one causing this. "No!" he shouted, fighting to walk only to realize that he had collapsed when the entire thing had started. He tried to push himself onto his hands and knees, but his evil twin kicked him in the ribs, sending him rolling onto his side.

"What would be worse?" the evil Phineas asked, "Seeing this, or seeing your brother forced to kill your 'girlfriend'?"

"You wouldn't dare..." Phineas tried to stand, but his twin smashed his face into the floor.

"Because you can do so much about it," his twin replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm before pulling one of the restraints from Isabella's dying body and grasping it. "Say goodbye, boys and girls!" Phineas screamed in agony as the metal pierced his back, slicing his heart. Phineas could feel as the blood drained from his body, and his twin laughed maniacally. "I now pronounce the two lovers related by blood!" he threw back his head and roared with laughter as Phineas' vision dimmed and then was no more.

**ΩΩ**

The Supervisor stood there and watched as the agents went to town on the escaped children. Though, to be fair, it really wasn't too much to watch, unless you liked one-sided fights. The tranquilizers that had been used on them hadn't completely worn off, and left the captives still quite groggy, except for that one boy, Luther. The Supervisor had actually expected Luther to be the one who'd come after him, not Flynn. Although, you couldn't really consider what had happened as coming after him, per se. Not after Vastile's power had been used on him. At that point, he basically passed out, as had most of his other friends. The final one to be defeated had been Luther, whom the Supervisor had resolved to place in the containment field after the limiter collars were in place on all of the captives.

He watched as Vastile picked up Flynn's unconscious form and dragged it back to the chair, clamping new restraints on his wrists and a limiter collar around his neck. The limiter collar had actually been a device created by Dr. Smithers, the Agency's R&D head. The Director had found him in Drusselstien, about to be stuck into prison for multiple counts of larceny. Though the doctor had once had a criminal record and was banned from ever leaving the country, both he and the Director had pulled a few strings to get Smithers out of the hands of the local authorities and into the capable hands of the Agency. Smithers had been the one that had created these custom suits for the agents. Although Vastile had commented on the fact that it had "made them look like Eva pilots", whatever that meant.

As of now, she was busy checking over the restraints with Siegfried, her usual helper when it came to security, and Kelly, head of the electronic systems in the group. The Supervisor nodded at his subordinates to continue their work before he stepped into the cockpit, where the Director sat at the controls of the heavily modified Osprey that was transporting them to their testing facility in the Canadian tundra. From what he could tell, the Osprey would make it to the testing facility in a little more than three hours.

"Trouble with the captives?" the Director didn't even have to turn his head as the Supervisor stepped inside.

"Nothing Alpha couldn't handle," the Supervisor replied, "All of them are secure and limited, and that one boy Luther will be put into the containment field."

"The energy leech?" the Director kept his eyes in the sky as the Supervisor settled into the copilot's chair.

"Yes, sir," the Supervisor replied, "The one who's faking his relation with the half-breed illegal girl and her filthy mother."

"Actually, something interesting," the Director pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to the Supervisor, "you'd be surprised how much information we'll be getting about the, as you put it, 'filthy' children. Just call them ELFs. Much easier, and with a boy like him, it's probably best that we not push every single button at once. Makes for easier executions. But this letter is really quite informative."

The Supervisor read over it twice to make sure he'd read it correctly. "You mean that... ELF, as you called him, is the product of the red-headed male half-breed and the illegal half-breed? Is he from the future or something?"

The Director shook his head, "No, but that would make things so much easier, my friend. No, he's the product of two ELFs of an already doomed dimension. He and his kind are few in number. Actually, there are only six, and all of them are in custody. All we have to do is-" he was interrupted by a crackling of static over the plane's radio.

"This is HAWK-5, please respond," a voice crackled over the speakers just as two CF-18 Hornets flew by the Osprey, "you are entering Canadian airspace and are not registered for a flight. Confirm transmission and land ASAP, repeat, confirm transmission and land ASAP."

The Director thumbed the transmission button, "This is Aquavis Down, confirming transmission. HAWK-5, we will be unable to land. We've got fragile cargo onboard, and have clearance for this flight from both sides of the border. Transmitting clearance codes now." The Director placed a hand on the scanner on his right, allowing it to read his fingerprints and check his vitals to make sure his hand wasn't being forced onto it.

The fighter jets held their position for a few seconds longer before responding, "Aquavis Down, this is HAWK-5. You are clear to continue the flight. Will you need escort to your destination?"

"That's a negative, HAWK-5. We can manage just fine by ourselves," the Director replied, and watched as the jets pulled away.

"And we're off again, huh?" the Supervisor looked at his superior.

"That we are," the Director replied, "And remind me to congratulate Smithers on his program. Perhaps two more seconds of silence and they might have blown us out of the sky."

The Supervisor grinned, "Nothing like living on the edge, huh?"

The Director chuckled, "You've got that right."

**ΩΩ**

The group of teens were jolted awake as the sudden deceleration threw them against their restraints. All except for Luther, who still dozed in a large tube composed of thick glass, like one would find in any self-respecting mad scientist's laboratory. After what had seemed like forever, the plane that they were in landed quietly, causing them to question if they really were in a plane. The ramp at the far end of the area they were in lowered, bright moonlight spilling into the plane's interior. As it did so, the agents stepped out of the front of the plane into the cargo area.

"Lisa?" one of the teens, who couldn't be identified at that point due to lack of light, asked. The same speaker finally recognized her, "Traitor!" he shouted, struggling in his restraints, "When I get out of this, I'm coming after you!" he continued to struggle until the boy beside him placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's too late, Phineas," the boy told him soberly. "This is the end of the line. Whatever happens next, we'll never be able to go back to how it used to be. That is, if we're even able to go back at all."

Phineas whipped his head around, nearly giving himself whiplash in the process. "Ferb, what do you mean? It's not like anyone's died yet. We've still got a chance to-" he was shut up when Ferb motioned across the cargo bay to Candace, who had been freed from her restraints. However, instead of trying to escape, like she would have usually done, she instead just sat there, sobbing. To be fair, she couldn't exactly escape very quickly in a wheelchair, but that shouldn't have stopped her. "Why's she like that?" Phineas asked his step-brother, Isabella leaning in to hear the answer.

Ferb sighed, "From what I've gathered, these... whatever they are went into our houses and captured our parents. And it's quite obvious that they don't care about refraining from deadly force."

Phineas' eyes widened significantly as realization gripped him, "Jeremy was supposed to stop by only a little while after we left."

Ferb nodded; any more speech was unnecessary.

Isabella gasped as she realized what the two were talking about. "I-I can't believe they'd do that..." she murmured.

Phineas shook his head, "What was worse was-" he paused before trying again. "was that- I'm sorry, I can't do this," he finished, shutting his eyes tightly.

Ferb finished for him. "Jeremy would've been our brother-in-law by the end of the year if this hadn't happened," he told Isabella, who covered her mouth so as not to be heard by the others around her.

"My god..." she whispered, "Do you think Candace knows?"

Phineas nodded, "I saw something glittering in the light. She... she probably saw him die only a little while after he proposed to her."

"That's horrible," Isabella bowed her head.

They stayed in that position for close to ten minutes before their restraints were lifted and agents began to file in and take their captives out of the cargo bay. Finally, the agents closed in on Luther, who was still in the containment field. "Watch out for this one," the large man Phineas had seen earlier told the agents as they began to open the cylinder. The man continued over to the teenage trio, who were just sitting there. "On your feet," he ordered them, and Isabella and Ferb stood up. Phineas just sat there, brooding. "On your feet," the man prodded Phineas with his boot, and with no response whatsoever, he let out a vicious kick, smacking the boy in the chest and driving the breath out of him. "ON YOUR FEET, FLYNN!" the Supervisor roared at Phineas, who struggled to stand. Isabella tried to help him, but the Supervisor held her back. "Now, now, Missie. He has to be able to stand under his own power. How else will he be able to see the tour?"

"You knew my name," Phineas mused, "That voice... where have I heard your voice before?"

The Supervisor rolled his eyes. "Looks like that tranq took more out of you than everyone else. Seriously, Flynn, you really are rather dull when you wake up, aren't you? I'm surprised you remembered your name when you woke up, let alone how to walk."

Phineas' eyes narrowed, "...Principal?"

The Supervisor shook his head, "Where'd you get that idea? Are you insane? Me, of all people, your principal? Just how smart were you before all this started?"

Phineas sighed, "Never mind. I suppose I was wrong about that."

The Supervisor laughed at the boy, "Damn right, you weren't."

Phineas looked up at him, "But you said-"

"You've ever heard of something called Deadpan Snarker?" The Supervisor asked Phineas. He shook his head. "Eh, neither did I. Until Vastile showed me some web page talking all about it. What was it? TV Ropes?"

Phineas shrugged as they kept on walking, "So, principal, this is why you were usually out during school hours?"

The Supervisor held up two fingers, "One, that's none of your business, and two, you will either address me as Sir or Supervisor, and nothing else. Is that clear?" Phineas nodded. The Supervisor grabbed him by the collar of the shirt and lifted him up to eye level, "I said, IS THAT CLEAR?" he repeated.

"Yes, sir," Phineas replied shakily.

"Good," the Supervisor dropped Phineas and then grabbed him and Isabella by the collars and dragged them along towards the facility. He turned to see Ferb still standing where he had been before, "You coming, Fletcher?"

Ferb shook his head, "Are you insane? Why would I go with you into what looks like a deathtrap?"

The Supervisor seemed to thing about this for a second, "How about because if you don't, I'll gut your friends and let you watch before I rip your heart out while you're still alive. That a good enough reason for you?"

Ferb's eyes widened at this. He knew that his principal had been a cruel man at school, but this was a new level. He merely nodded.

The Supervisor grinned at this before grabbing Phineas with one arm, Isabella with the other, and pushed Ferb ahead of him. "The Director will be very pleased to see you made it."

"The Director?" Phineas asked before the Supervisor lifted him off the ground.

"What did I say about no speaking unless spoken to?" The Supervisor growled before pushing the three of them into the facility's main door. They stopped to stare at the marvel that was inside.

They stood inside a building that seemed to have originally been a hospital, but the stripped-down appearance gave it a much darker look. There was hardly any lighting, and the building seemed to stretch up into the heavens, catwalks and raised tunnels criss-crossing the area above the circular plaza they stood in. Everywhere they looked, people, both adults and teenagers, were walking around, not even batting an eye at the fact that there were multiple captives being led into the facility.

"Vastile!" The Supervisor shouted as she came closer to the group. "Take the girl and show her around."

Lisa gave a mock salute to the Supervisor, "At your command, milord!"

As she came to take Isabella, the Supervisor grabbed her by the front of her suit and slapped her across the face with an open hand, leaving a bright red hand print on the side of her face. "Any more of your lip and I'll have to cut them off," he threatened her before shoving Isabella at her, "Now go show her around." He directed the next bit at Isabella, "I would say don't kill her, but if you kill her, I get to kill you, so it's really a win-win situation for me. Oh well. Kill her, don't kill her, I don't really give a damn one way or the other." And with that, he walked off with the boys.

Lisa grinned devilishly at Isabella, "Nice guy, huh?"

"Be quiet," Isabella muttered.

"Oh, I'm so very scared of the girl who can barely walk. I mean, if it wasn't for the Supervisor basically carrying you here, I'd have-"

"He wasn't carrying me," Isabella cut her off.

"Oh, so you were just leaning up against him?" Isabella nodded, "Yeah, whatever, the point still remains: you were tired. You can't do anything right now. So you won't be the one giving orders around here. You're in absolutely no position to do so."

"Stop it."

"Or what, little girl? You're going to fall on me? Oh, I'm so scared!"

"Just stop it."

"Now that I think about it, maybe it was better that in the end, I broke with you guys. You really do need to get toughened up, and this would probably be the best way."

"What? Killing people is a good way to build character?"

"Well what do you expect from a warlike race like ourselves? Fighting is who we are, Izzie. It's our own way of natural selection."

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is. If you'd been able to defeat us, it would have shown that you were fitter than us. Therefore, you would have been the higher beings and it would have been the way of life for you to kill us."

"Only an evil person like you would think that!"

"I swear, you're about as naive as Phineas. Don't you know how subjective 'good' and 'evil' are? No one's really good or evil, Izzie, just varying shades of grey."

"You're twisting it!"

"You act like I'm the first one to do so. Izzie, don't you see what's happening all around you?"

"Don't call me that!" Isabella screamed, and charged Lisa, her eyes filling with tears of rage. Lisa barely touched her when she dropped onto her hands and knees before they too gave way. Lisa had been right, she was tired. It must have been around 3 or so, though the time change would have placed it still at late night instead of early morning. Isabella crawled onto her hands and knees, trying to look up at her former friend. "Why, Lisa? Why are you doing this?"

Lisa knelt beside her and smiled like she actually meant it. "You'll have to ask the Director when you see him," she told her before squeezing on Isabella's neck, which released any tension in the girl and she collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

**ΩΩ**

Phineas was pushed forward into a room a bit larger than his and Ferb's bedroom, but it was much more cramped due to the amount of people already there. Pretty much every single male that had been captured was there, and they all still had their collars on. Nearly as soon as the boys were pushed in, the door slammed shut just as Buford, Jarv, and Luther all rushed it. There were a few seconds of them banging on the door with their fists before they gave up once again. Phineas and Ferb both made their way through the small crowd and took a seat on either side of their father.

"Do you know what's happening?" Phineas asked his step-father, who quickly shook his head. "Nothing? Not even a hint?" another shake of the head. Phineas decided to turn to Ferb, "Why would we be captured? Is there something special about us?"

Ferb raised an eyebrow at his brother, "You don't remember, do you?"

"Remember what?" Phineas was at odds here, he didn't remember anything that had happened since right before the fight. He figured they'd lost, but he had a memory gap between that point and right before they'd gotten out of the plane. There were phantoms of memories, lucid dreams he could remember. He shuddered at one of them 'I now pronounce the two lovers related by blood!' "I hardly remember anything up until the beginning of the fight out in the football field. What happened after that?"

"Ask Buford or Luther, I wasn't there, remember?" Ferb replied, and from the tone of his voice, it sounded like he wanted to think a few things over and be left alone. Phineas placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about Lisa, Ferb. None of us knew, and could have never predicted it," Phineas left to go talk to the others.

Ferb just sat there brooding, not knowing what to think. The girl he had nearly confessed any kind of even slightly romantic feelings to had only shed his blood and dragged him into the middle of nowhere, and from what he'd seen with the treatment of Jeremy, he figured they'd be shot like dogs some point soon. He just sighed, not having enough energy to summon any kind of anger. He had no idea what time it was, but his body was aching in so many different places it wasn't even funny anymore. He just curled up the bit of cushioning that had been placed on the floor and fell asleep. Perhaps it was all just a bad dream, and he'd wake up for school the next day. He scoffed at himself even as he thought that: he had better chances of waking up and learning that he and Lisa were married. Not that that was a bad thing, per se. At least, it hadn't been until recently. His head swirled at the multitude of noises that were being made throughout the room. That was, until he could hear Phineas say something about Ferb having the right idea and getting everyone to go to sleep. Ferb smiled at this before commanding his mind to shut up and passed into sleep.

**ΩΩ**

The next morning came, and the female captives had gotten a surprise when they woke up. There in front of them, a small cart stood, filled with food. There had to have been some ulterior motive within this, but they were all so hungry that it didn't occur to them until they had nearly finished the entire cart. After finishing with the food, their stomachs were stuffed so much that many could hardly walk due to the fact.

It was at that time that the Director entered, his eyes hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses with reflective lenses. "And good morning to you," he nodded to them. He was not greeted in the best manner though.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Casey shouted, "You break down our doors, you take us away, you take our possessions, and for what? Please, oh great and mighty Director, tell me what you thought you'd be able to get out of this!"

The Director ignored her outburst. "Seems you've eaten all the food," he noted.

Casey Sweetwater growled at the complete lack of interest he was giving her, "What of it?"

The Director turned to her and grinned, "Never seen a week's worth of food go so quickly."

Casey paled, "You can't be serious. Are you telling us that-"

"- the food you all just finished was supposed to last you the whole week? Yes, yes it was. Obviously, you've fed yourselves for the week, so we won't have to worry about you for a bit," the Director answered, "And before you blame anyone, you should have read the note." He pulled a note off the cart and read it. "Good morning. This cart consists of your week's worth of food. Eat what you choose to, and when you're finished, I'll have some of my men take it out and store the rest for tomorrow." he put the paper down. "Now I would have thought that you would have been more observant, what with everything going on. Anyhow, come with me. You seem to be more stable than the males at this point, so I'll be giving you all your tour of the parts of the facility you'll be using first."

"No," Isabella, Annabell, and Adyson didn't move from their spots, and after a moment of consideration, neither did their parents.

The Director raised an eyebrow, "You think you've got a choice?" he asked before Annabell was electrocuted. She dropped to the floor, clutching the collar that had been put on her. At least, until she was zapped again, causing her to cry out in pain, even as all the occupants ran to her.

"Why are you doing this?" Adyson shouted at him.

"Let her death be an example to you all. I do not take disobedience. At all," the Director replied, electrocuting Annabell yet again.

Adyson's eyes widened. "NO!" she shouted, and launched herself at the giant that stood before her, trying to stop him.

The Director grinned, "Fine, fine," he answered, switching the electroshock part of the collar off, allowing Annabell to relax. She was breathing heavily, and the area around where the collar touched was already reddening. "I'll just kill her later," he muttered, testing to see if anyone had heard him. No one did. "Right then, this way," he grabbed Isabella by the scruff of her neck and guided her forward, forcing the others to follow her. They approached a small room, which held a large dome along with a few nasty-looking devices.

"Torture room?" Vivian asked, eyeing the machines carefully.

The Director chuckled, "Recreation room. That large metal dome is called a limiter. It is protected by very thick electroshock force field powered by an internal generator, which is always fueled. Just a bit of the sense of futility for you." He led them further into the facility, pointing out everything from guard stations to security cameras to lasers that could cut a person in half, each time enjoying the look of sheer hopelessness appeared on their faces. There was no escape, not with Alpha and the other agents in the entire facility around here. Each time someone walked by the Director, they would always give him a sharp salute before greedily eyeing the group behind him. Finally, they reached changing rooms. The Director released Isabella and pushed her towards the room, "You all will find clothing in there. Go put it on." They did as they were told, and when they came out, they were wearing drab, off-white clothing. "This is what you'll be wearing during your stay at the facility. Now let me show you to where you'll be spending most of your days." The Director led them further through the hallways, which seemed to disorient his captives. This made it even better, since it meant that they wouldn't be able to escape quickly if they were somehow able to escape. "This," he pointed at the room they were about to enter, "is where some of you will be held. The others will be in a nearby room, so you'll all be close enough to hear each other scream."

"You little-" Biff tried to rush the Director, but Casey, Linda, and Vivian held her back.

The Director smiled. "You would do well to control your emotions, Mrs. Van Stomm. If you anger me too much, you might find yourself an early widow."

All the assembled females gasped at this statement. "You would punish the innocent for the wrongs of the guilty?" Isabella asked him in disbelief.

The Director gave her a dismissive wave of his hand, "I've done worse."

"You have?" Adyson looked at him wide-eyed, "What could be worse than this?"

"You don't want to know," Candace replied, speaking for the first time since the incident on the road.

"Oh Candace..." Adyson covered her mouth, "I'm so sorry."

The Director opened the first door. "Smithers, you ready for the charges?"

A voice inside replied, "Yes sir."

The Director pulled Isabella and Adyson out of the group, "Hands." They allowed him to take them and he cuffed their wrists together before pushing them into a room. "The rest of you are in here."

"Why did we get separated?" Vivian asked the Director.

"Normally, I'd have disciplined you lot for asking too many questions, but just for fun, I'll answer. Basically, I needed them, I don't need you." He scratched his chin, "Huh. Does this feel familiar to any of you in any way? Like it's happened at some point in history?" The others just stared at him in disbelief.

"How could you possibly forget that?" Annabell crossed her arms, "That was the worst point in all of history."

"For the victims, perhaps. But for their 'conquerors', it was the greatest moment of their lives. In fact, Smithers' father was from that era. He should have a grand old time, what with his father being killed by supers and his father influencing his son's views closer to his own."

Vivian's eyes widened at this, "No! Let her out of there!"

The Director held her back, "Don't worry, Ms. Garcia-Shapiro. I won't let Smithers kill her. Who knows, she might even be of some actual use to me."

"You so much as lay a hand on her and-"

"You'll what? Shout at me? Please, you are officially powerless here. There is absolutely nothing you can do except die. And that is all you're going to do."

Vivian whimpered and looked up at her captor, her eyes shining with tears. "Please, sir. Please don't do it, I'm begging you."

The Director looked at her, "The last time someone begged me to do something, they ended up shot and tossed of a third-story balcony. Now," he reached out to stroke her face, and she took it, "I know this might be a traumatic experience for you," he drew his hand back and backhanded her across the face, "which is exactly why I'm doing this. You supers are a big problem. Anyone who isn't from this dimension is a threat to the entire existence of this reality. Which is why you all will be killed."

There was a collective gasp before the remnants of the group were pushed into another room and shut inside. The Director walked off, whistling a happy tune. "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go," he laughed at the joyful tone of the song before walking away.

**ΩΩ**

Isabella and Adyson stepped into the smaller room, a tall, relatively skinny man sitting in a chair facing away from them. "Well, if it isn't the two girls that the Director told me about," he looked at the cuffs on them. "What, he think I'm going weak? You won't be needing those," he uncuffed their hands, "I assume you have absolutely no idea what's happening, am I right?"

The two nodded before Isabella stepped forward and held out her hand, "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Smithers, sir. Over there is Adyson Sweetwater and I am Isabella-"

"Garcia-Shapiro?" Smithers turned to look both of them in the face for the first time, his cheekbones protruding from slightly hollowed-out cheeks. Isabella nodded. Smithers grinned, but not in a good way. "You're the Jewish super, right?" Another nod. "Well then, Ms. Garcia-Shapiro, welcome to hell. You won't be leaving anytime soon, if ever." He lifted up his left sleeve to reveal a tattoo on his arm. "My personal insignia."

Isabella's eyes widened at the symbol, "But you're too young to be from tha-"

"Oh, I know. My father pretended to submit to the Allies, but he still helped the German war effort until there was no way he could without being found out. After that, we moved to a secluded area out by Gimmelschtump, where I grew up next door to some family called Doofenshmirtz- I hear they live in Danville now- and spent much of my time there building contraptions of various purposes. By then, it was just my father and I, since my mother had been killed a little while before we made it to Gimmelschtump. A few years later, when a young man and woman sought refuge in our home from people they said were pursuing them, my father denied them entrance. And so instead of taking it like civilized people, they killed my father on our doorstep- a lightning bolt blasting into his chest- right in front of me. As he lay dying, he asked me to be able to stop these people, whoever they were, and others like them. He could tell that if they weren't restrained and on our side, then one act of anger from them would destroy us all. It was then that I decided to figure these people out. I followed them through my house as they ransacked it, looking for any kind of weapons they could use. I enjoyed killing the woman and watching as her partner cried over her bleeding body. At least, I did until the man looked up at me and was about to kill me. Fortunately, the Director's father saved me. Afterwards, I became in his debt and joined the agency, where I met the Director. Good times, girly, good times," Smithers finished, with Isabella and Adyson looking on in horror. "What, was the wittle stowy too scawy for you two?"

"You're a monster," Adyson told him.

"Took you long enough," Smithers muttered. "Now did the Director tell you why you were to come here?" They both shook their heads. "Typical of him. I'll need to tell him he's getting a bit too theatrical. However, I can see why. It must be killing you to wonder what I've got planned for you, right?"

Isabella gritted her teeth, trying to keep herself from tackling the man standing in front of her. "What? You're going to torture us, I'm assuming?"

Smithers laughed as he sat down, motioning for the two girls to sit down. "You just keep thinking I'll be that nice, girl. I'll tell you all when the Director brings your friends in here."

Isabella tried to charge the man right then, only for Smithers to catch the fist that had been about to hit him and began to squeeze, rubbing the bones of her hand together before slowly crushing them. Adyson stood up, "Stop!"

Smithers dropped Isabella's hand, allowing the girl to drop to her knees and curl into the fetal position, holding her hand close to her body. "And why should I?" he asked, "I've been bored for close to a year, and now that the Director's sent me fresh meat, why do you think I can't play with it?"

Adyson's eyes narrowed. "Because if you do, I'll make sure you get to watch me pull your windpipe out."

Smithers laughed, "Oh, you both seem to still have some fight left in you. I'm glad the Director didn't give you the tour, since if he had, you both would have been too absorbed in self-pity to even bother trying to do anything whatsoever." Adyson growled, trying to restrain herself from beating this man to a bloody pulp. Smithers grinned widely, "I don't have to be a mind reader to know that you want to hurt me quite a bit. And who knows, you may get your chance. Not likely, but it may happen."

Adyson stared at him for a second longer before spitting in his general direction and walking over to crouch beside Isabella, who was still nursing her hand. "Bastard dislocated some of your bones," Adyson muttered to her friend as tried to help by massaging her hand, only receiving a whimper of pain from the victim. Adyson glanced up at their new captor, and could only hope that the others were doing better.

**A/N: And I'm back! Hope you guys still liked this chapter, even if it **_**was**_** just filler. Don't worry, when we get to the actual darkness of this story, you'll know it. As of now, the contest's basically done, due to lack of participants. But feel free to keep on mentioning the shoutouts! I'll hopefully see you guys in August. If not then, I'll have two chaps for September. Now go review! It's right down there! See ya in August (which is kinda Monday, but whatevs)**

**V**

**-Terra**


	8. The Darkness is Rising

**A/N: Y'know, it's really becoming routine for me to get later and later… hopefully not, though. Anyway, enjoy!**

Chapter 8: The Darkness is Rising

Phineas was still sitting on his bed when the Supervisor walked into their room. Though, he reasoned, room wasn't exactly the correct word for it. More like a dungeon. A cramped, dark, smelly, under supplied dungeon that was complete with everything except the torches and torture machines. He sat there, just thinking. How many days had it been? There was no way to tell, no calendar, no kind of system of night and day, and what was more, no light or visitors of any kind. He had no idea where his mother, his sister, or Isabella were, and he had tried resigning himself to the fact that he might never see them again. But it was as if his body was rebelling against him, screaming that there was something else, something more to be discovered. Almost as if he could sense something was coming. And it was something bad. Full of death and despair and depression and more death. So much death, and for what? What did all this accomplish? As of what he considered to be day seven, he had begun to meditate, excluding the chaotic outside world for the chaos that resided within his mind. There was something here, something that connected them all together. He had even tried to see if such superpowers that he could use included telepathy, but the collar on his neck kept him from exploring very far. As much as he could tell, he could do something, because he remembered how the fight with Lawr had been a bit too easy. Not just that Lawr had been holding back, but there was something else, something that he had done. His senses and reactions had been heightened, but no one else's had been. In fact, he seemed to have been going slower. And that could only mean one thing. He could bend time. That was his power. From past experiences that he had had, he thought about how many different times he'd been saved because of his faster reflexes. The falling debris he'd dodged during any of his afternoon activities, the punches from Buford he'd dodged if he'd said the wrong thing, everything made sense now. But not only that, he could see that he'd used telekinesis before. He was a manipulator of time and a telekinetic.

He kept these findings to himself, for now. He never knew what the Director would do if that monster learned that others knew of his own powers. The Supervisor interrupted his thoughts, "Flynn! Up!" Phineas did as he was told, standing up off the bed and stepping forward to face his former leader. The Supervisor turned to someone beside him, and two people stepped out of the shadows: Lawr and Clancy. "These two will lead you to the next part of your containment. I'd wish you good luck, but where you're going, it won't help you at all."

Lawr disregarded the others, merely glaring at Luther, who stood on Phineas' left. "Sir, I need to interrogate one of them. Alone," he spoke. The Supervisor nodded, and Phineas assumed that Lawr was going to question him. Instead, the boy grabbed Luther by the collar of the shirt and dragged him out of the room. Just before he disappeared out the door, Luther grinned at Phineas and gave him a thumbs-up. Phineas tried to return the grin, but he just couldn't get himself to do so.

The Supervisor turned back to the group, pressing into what was most likely a communicator before ordering someone named "Epsilon" to their holding facility. Not too long after that, the Supervisor told them that Epsilon and Gamma would lead them to their treatment today. Or at least, they would lead the teens there. The adults were told to stay behind for a special session with the Director. So this was why Phineas felt an ever-increasing sense of dread creeping over him as they left the windowless room and stepped into the harsh, bright fluorescent lighting.

As they moved by the rooms, they could see some of them were interrogation rooms with one way mirrors. One of such rooms was where Lawr and Luther had been placed in. Phineas could only hope that Luther wouldn't be harmed, but he felt that this would be an impossibility. Before he could do anything, he was shoved into what looked to be a closet, and the door shut behind him. He huddled in the room, hearing the Supervisor's boots clanking against the metal floor and more slams of doors, each one increasingly further away. He closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply, trying to calm himself. Of course, the red, eye-like device that appeared in front of his face right when he opened them back up didn't help.

"Initializing," the device spoke, a red light coming out of its eye and mapping Phineas' face. "Red player is online."

Phineas' eyes widened, "Red wha-?" he was cut off as the floor suddenly began to rise and the door began to open.

A screen appeared in front of Phineas, "Good luck, all of you. You'll need it." And with that, the screen shut off, revealing what seemed to be a playing field, but the grass had been turned black from the multitude of fires that consumed the ground.

"Limiters off," a mechanical voice spoke, and the collar fell from Phineas' neck. Phineas rubbed where it had been and got a second to look around before the wall behind him pushed him forward into the light of the field.

Almost as soon as he stepped into the light, he realized who the fires were from. They were from Isabella, who stood before a monstrous titan of steel, its body contorted like a snake, but with claws that were comparable to a gigantic version of the old-fashioned scythe blade. And not only were Isabella's hands on fire, but she stood on a raised platform of earth, which moved as she avoided the monster's attacks.

"Multiple new players sensed. Compensating," the voice announced, and at least three other copies of the monster Isabella fought appeared, along with a few adult agents.

"Just great," Phineas growled, trying to ready himself as best as he could for the oncoming attack even as one of the monsters turned towards him, its one eye flashing red.

"Target acquired," the thing stated as it began to move towards Phineas, its two friends branching off to search for other targets. Phineas didn't move, trying to focus his mind to find the serpent's power source and crush it before it could do anything. The only thing that saved him while he focused was Buford, who tackled him out of the way as the claw came down on where he'd been standing barely a quarter of a second ago.

"You've gotta stay focused, Dinna Bell!" Buford shouted as he dodged another claw, showing a surprising amount of agility for someone of his size, before punching the claw as the serpent tried to get it out of the ground, said punch buckling the metal. The creature let out a screech that sounded as real as anything, causing Buford to freeze for an instant. That was all the serpent needed, and a claw came down, the flat of the blade pinning the burly teen to the ground. Another claw lashed out to stab through his head, but the claw holding Buford turned into water and flowed onto the ground, and Buford rolled out of the way, punching the claw that had just tried to kill him, causing this one to buckle also. Then Buford, with a mighty roar, somehow launched himself up into the air, crashing into the serpent's head. The creature, whatever it was, opened its eye wider and it began to glow. "Look out, guys!" Buford shouted as he used the serpent's thrashings to swing up behind it and onto the back of its head, still gripping what would be considered the crown of the thing's head, with a mighty shout, he was able to turn the serpent's head away from Phineas, who was kneeling beside something in front of the serpent. The monster's eye finally fired, carving a large scar on the wall facing the way they'd come in. Buford grunted as he turned the thing's head away from the wall, trying to hit the other monsters that had accompanied it. One of the monsters was cut in half as the overpowered laser cut through its metal skeleton. Half of the three-story monster fell to the ground, still spurting sparks from its broken "spine".

It was only then that everyone noticed the intercom, "Gold player is online."

Nearly as soon as the door opened, a figure sheathed in blue light stepped out. "Hey, ugly!" the new "player" shouted at one of the other snake-things, drawing its attention from a prostrate Baljeet, who had passed out nearly as soon as the thing had looked him in the face. As of now, Jarv was trying to wake the boy up, but to no avail. "Let's dance!" the newcomer shouted before charging the beast, his form glowing ever brighter before he jumped, using the energy that surrounded him to soar even with the beast's head. "Idiot!" the new arrival spoke, venom dripping from each word as he delivered a punch to the top of the serpent's head that drove it to the ground, using up the last of the energy that surrounded him. "You made it electronic! I!" his hand glowed brightly, "Use!" the hand shot out a blast of lightning, "Lightning!" the serpent's body was wracked with spasms as every single system in its skeleton shorted out and caught fire. The newcomer threw himself off the as the machine's core exploded, throwing him against a wall. Buford rushed over to Phineas, who had been kneeling beside Ferb after he'd realized his brother had passed out.

Buford pulled a somber Phineas away from his brother, checking the taller boy's pulse. He was relieved to find that it was present and very strong. "Dinna Bell! Go check on that other guy!" he shouted to Phineas over the noise. "Make sure he's still alive!"

Phineas silently nodded and ran over to the other guy, who had already crawled onto his hands and knees, blood dripping out of his mouth. As the redhead knelt beside their new ally, he turned to look at Phineas. "Luther?" Phineas gaped in surprise. "You did this? But how?"

Luther tried to stand up, but he needed assistance to do so. "Doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that you get out there and help the rest of them fight."

Phineas grabbed the boy by the shoulders and spun him around so that he could stare into his friend's eyes. "What about you?"

Luther chuckled before pausing to turn and spit blood over his shoulder. "I'm down and out for right now. You, however, will be able to go out there and finish whatever 'test' the Director put us up for. Just make sure I'm not crushed flat by falling machinery. Oh, and one more thing Phineas," Phineas stared into Luther's eyes as the boy grabbed his shoulder. "Protect my sister with your life."

Phineas nodded, "For the record, Luther, I'm not gonna let you die on me here, however unlikely you think that is. Besides, you owe me," he grinned at his friend.

Luther was able to crack a smile as his voice faded away, "That's the Phineas we know and love." And then he passed out.

Phineas pulled both Luther and Ferb's unconscious forms into a slightly dark crevice, hoping that they'd be safe there for now. He turned away from them to go and find the others, so he didn't notice anything different when a pod came down from the ceiling and pulled Luther up through the tube it had come out of.

**ΩΩ**

The Supervisor climbed the final steps to the control room, which overlooked the field that his superior had converted from the majestic beauty it had been to this "training field". Not only that, but the Director decided to go ahead and borrow a few of Smithers' pet projects and have the older man combine them into... whatever those things were. Not only that, but those prototype enhanced super-hunters were out there too, so he'd be able to see how they'd do in combat. After that, the only thing left would be to test them for detection before disposing of the prototypes and making the necessary modifications to others like Alpha for their missions. Only the Director knew whether or not he'd use any of these children that Alpha had caught. Many of the captives who had to undergo such trainings were left gibbering bags of skin, if they were so lucky.

It wasn't so much as that he didn't like killing the swine, but it could get boring after a while. Though he knew one thing that wouldn't be boring: the smell of spent gunpowder after the executions, which could consist of as few as five or as many as twenty. That smell reminded him of back when he served in the Corps, when he'd been as close to the top as was possible in that situation. Only after the war, the government disbanded his squad, saying they'd "done enough". Of course, no one in the squad believed that. Though they didn't argue against their leaders' decision, the Supervisor still had connections, and was able to get his men and himself in contact with the Director, who would later become his superior. The Supervisor had been in his position for so many years now that he had stopped bothering to count, and he still loved that feeling of actual excitement (though he considered it his body anticipating what was to come and shooting him full of adrenaline) he got every time he would get ready for his work.

He stepped next to the Director, who was observing the new captives as they began to finish the destruction of these snake-mechs, or whatever random name Smithers had given them. That was, until he noticed Alpha standing in the third entrance to the makeshift arena.

"Permission to enter the ring, sir?" Lawr asked the camera positioned above the doorway.

The Director contemplated it for mere seconds before replying, "Just wait until we've only got half breeds in there. Then you'll be able to go ahead."

Lawr nodded and relayed the message to the rest of the squad. "Just let us know when they're ready, sir."

The Director nodded, though he knew that they could not see it. He crossed the room to the final controller of one of the snake-mechs, who was spinning his head back and forth, trying to fry the bothersome girl on a pillar of earth. As he got to the controller, he whispered the new target's name into his ear, which caused the controller to freeze before scanning the field for the new target. As he did so, the Director made a mental note to talk to Smithers about his programming for the controllers. While the programming was probably the most immersive thing he'd ever seen or ever would see, for that matter, the point still remained that if their mech was destroyed, the pilot became an empty shell, not dead but not alive either. And such vegetables were useless to him, and a waste of resources to kill. _If you're going to make it so immersive that the pilot feels like they lost an arm when claws are cut off, just kill them when the mech's dead,_ the Director thought. Sometimes, he just couldn't help but accept what Smithers came up with, but there were other times where the things he created were just so insane that the Director wondered why Smithers had even been employed there in the first place. _Granted, he is from Gimmelschtump, so I suppose those idiotic ideas are just what any scientist from that area does_, the Director thought. He turned his attention back to the battlefield, and watched to see how his final agent took out his target.

**ΩΩ**

Even with all the adrenaline coursing through him, Phineas just wanted to stop and stare in awe at what was happening around here. Not only did his friends have superpowers, which were, in his mind, awesome, but they were fighting some type of snake-mech thing, which seemed to have some seriously advanced AI in it, as it reacted in an almost human fashion to stimuli. Of course, Phineas knew he couldn't put his guard down, even for a second. These things had tried to kill them, so he could hardly risk gawking at it right now.

The mech suddenly straightened, ignoring the blossoms of fire that Isabella was throwing at it, and its eye widened before it began to send out red light in an arc, bathing all of the remaining fighters in red light. Phineas was forced to shade his eyes from the red light as it seemed to try to blind him. By the time his eyes cleared, he could see Isabella merely sitting on a stationary pillar of rock, her hands pressed against her temples. From the looks of it, she had to really concentrate to keep the pillar up in the air, and after a distraction like that, it took all her attention to try and keep herself from falling around three stories to the ground. This, of course, meant that she couldn't spare any attention to the mech beside her, but apparently the "scan" it had done had changed it. The monster completely disregarded Isabella and slithered past her, not even noticing as it demolished the pillar she'd been trying to keep together.

"Phineas!" she cried out as she realized her only piece of ground had just been pulled out from under her.

Phineas began to run towards her, trying to figure out a plan as Isabella fell closer to earth. After sprinting his fastest, he realized that, too late, he wouldn't be able to reach her. He was still too far away, and without a plan. But still, he kept running, hoping against reality that somehow there would be some way that he could reach Isabella before she hit the ground. As luck would have it, he found a way.

"Hey, Dinna Bell!" Buford shouted, noticing the problem. "Jump!" he intertwined his hands together, making a platform with them. Phineas obliged, and Buford used strength that Phineas realized he shouldn't have possessed to launch the redhead on an intersecting course with his raven-haired friend.

Had Phineas' timing been off even a hairsbreadth, he would have missed Isabella. As it was, it seemed like time itself had tried to work with him, as he caught her just as a shard of rock had pierced the back of her shirt, tearing it. Phineas was able to catch her so that it was only a tear and not a pierced lung, and he tried his best to brace his feet slightly slanted against the ground, attempting to break like he'd seen people do with ice skates. He actually did quite well for someone who hadn't used the technique before, nearly losing his balance as they finally came to a stop.

"Thanks, Phineas," Isabella smiled almost bashfully before grasping at her side, feeling the blood. Her mood went from her usual, shy self (at least, when she was around Phineas and in any situation slightly romantic) to a rather annoyed mood in just a few seconds. "You have got to be kidding me," she growled, annoyed with herself for not being able to prevent it.

"Just be thankful it's a scratch and not a pierced lung," Phineas replied.

"Fair enough," she agreed, turning back to the situation at hand, seeing the mech flick out one of its claws and catch Jarv, sending him flying into the wall.

"Adyson!" Isabella shouted, causing her friend to turn and look at the girl. "Blind it!"

"On it!" Adyson replied, and began to weave her way closer to the monster so that she was within the sight line of the mech.

"What did you mean by-" Phineas began to ask before Isabella pushed his head down and pressed her forehead against his, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

"Everyone, look away!" she shouted, her voice projecting across the field.

Adyson grinned before she did what she needed to do, _Why not add a bit of ham?_ she thought to herself. "_So-lar_ FLARE!" she shouted, and a pulse of light exploded from her form, ripping into the mech before her. The thing writhed as the pulse encircled it, closing in on it and burning through its armor and external systems, essentially frying its brain.

When everyone else looked up, the mech's armor and most of its wiring was gathering in a rapidly hardening pool. An audible "yes!" could be heard from somewhere outside the room, and another door opened, revealing a group of figures no one could make out until one of them spoke.

"Alpha! Go!" someone shouted, and the entire group charged out, revealing it to be Lawr and the rest of his group. "Take them! Now!" Lawr shouted, and charged towards the other group of agents, allowing his teammates to choose their opponents.

Lawr reached the leader of the enemy agents, and noticed quickly that it was not entirely human. Though, considering that his enemy's hands were a metallic liquid, it wasn't too difficult to notice. He reached into his pocket and pulled out what seemed to be a phone until he flipped the phone open and pressed the call button. The screen shattered, and two prongs shot out, impaling his opponent in the stomach. His opponent cried out at the sudden pain until Lawr hit the "end call" button, sending electricity through the prongs and into the agent's body. The agent collapsed, and Lawr tossed the phone on him before setting his enemy's body on fire. "That takes care of one," he muttered to himself, dusting his hands off before strolling over to find another opponent.

Isabella found Lisa quite quickly- it wasn't too difficult to spot someone that she was specifically looking for. She was currently beating the snot out of some agent, which Isabella found odd, considering that Lisa should have been teaming up with the agents. She only understood why when she saw that the agent's hands had been replaced with blades, and his jaw had been grown to monstrous proportions, allowing for close to one hundred dagger-like teeth to be placed in the thing's mouth. Isabella watched as Lisa started laughing at the thing.

"Nice to see the Director finally set to work on his 'Freaks of Nature' project. How's that coming along?" Lisa dodged an angry swipe from the creature.

"I will rip you apart and feast on your bones!" the creature threatened Isabella's former friend.

Lisa's sigh was audible, "So we take a sophisticated human and turn him into a blade-armed shark-Hulk? Look how far our technology is!" She grinned as she dodged another swipe before seeing Isabella, "What about that little girl? She look like good fish food to ya?"

The creature, which had stumbled closer to Isabella, saw some truth in Lisa's words and grinned at the young Garcia-Shapiro. "Kill you, eat your flesh," it muttered as it began to walk towards her, sharpening its blades against each other, which gave off a decent amount of sparks. That was, until a cracking noise resounded in their vicinity, and the monster dropped to the ground, its head nearly turned one hundred and eighty degrees.

"Well, that was simple," Lisa noted from her place behind the creature, brushing her hands off on the material on her legs. "Surprisingly messy, but simple nonetheless." She turned to look at Isabella, "Right?"

Isabella's eyes narrowed. "Lisa, I'm going to rip you apart for this," she growled, her hands conjuring flames around them.

Lisa grinned, "We'll see about that, now won't we?"

Isabella charged, using her powers to allow the floor to propel her quicker towards her enemy. Lisa was able to roll out of the way just as Isabella landed in the spot she'd been occupying not a second ago, Isabella's hands smashing into the ground instead of her enemy. Lisa spun around quickly, only to be tackled by Isabella, who raised a flaming fist to smash into Lisa's head.

"This ends now," Isabella spoke, her fist poised to strike at any moment.

"Couldn't have agreed with you more," Lisa replied, and buried her fist in Isabella's stomach, causing the younger girl to draw back and grasp her stomach. Lisa spared her no mercy, lifting her back onto her feet by the collar and smashing her own forehead into Isabella's own. Isabella let out what had almost sounded like a sigh before Lisa unceremoniously dropped her unconscious form on the ground. Lisa rubbed her forehead a bit before standing back up to full height. "Off to get the other mutants," she murmured to herself, and set off towards another of the half breeds who had decided to engage these experiments.

Clancy was busy fighting off two opponents: a hideously changed agent, with an extra pair of arms below his original ones, and Buford, who was ready for a rematch. Clancy blocked Buford's attacks with his forearms, getting severely bruised in the process.

"This ends here," he growled, and froze all of Buford's body except his head. He took a second to step back and admire his handiwork until four fists hit his back, knocking the wind out of him. He spun around only to be met with a hand that grabbed him by the collar of his suit and lifted him up, with two other fists smashing back and forth across his face, the only unused fist driving punches into his abdomen. Clancy was sure he blacked out from the beating at one point, but he woke back up and grabbed the arm that held him, his face battered and waves of nausea rolling in from the punches to his stomach. His opponent cried out as he unleashed a lightning bolt through the arm he held.

"My hand!" the agent shouted as he pulled away, one of his hands holding the wounded one.

Clancy only replied by sending a kick to his enemy's shins, causing him to crash to the ground, his lower pair of arms supporting him as he landed on his knees. Clancy paid him no heed as he froze the other agent from the waist down and from the lower pair of arms up to the jaw. He grinned as he watched the agent struggle to move, but to no effect. He then formed an icy gag over his opponent's mouth, causing the other male to look up at his conqueror with something that should have never been in any agent's eyes: fear.

"You show fear. For this, you shall not survive," Clancy stated to his opponent, and before he could protest, Clancy stomped down hard on the small of his opponent's back. There was a shout that came from the agent, one of pain this time. "Fine. I'll put you out of your misery," Clancy stated, and grabbed the agent's chin with one hand and the top of his head with the other, and twisted quickly. No sooner had he done so that the ice surrounding the agent dissipated and the body of Clancy's opponent flopped onto the ground. Then he turned to Buford, who stared back at Clancy, no fear in his eyes. Clancy wasn't sure if he was merely hiding his fear well or if he really did not fear him, but either way, Buford had passed in his eyes. For that, he struck Buford in the right side of his face with enough force to knock the boy out before he re-absorbed the ice from his opponent's unconscious form.

Kelly had been caught between Adyson and some agent who seemed to have had half her body replaced with a machine of some kind. Kelly grinned as the cyborg agent tried to attack her, but she rolled out of her opponent's reach quite easily. At least, out of the cyborg's reach. Adyson grabbed Kelly from behind and knocked the agent's legs out from under her, causing her to bruise her shins. As she began to get up again, Adyson delivered a viscous kick to Kelly's chest, propelling the agent back nearly a foot and probably cracking a few ribs. Kelly lifted herself up, dodging Adyson's next kick, only to have the cyborg grab her by the front of her shirt, lifting Kelly up to her own eye level.

"I will end you," the cyborg growled, her normal hand pulling back, and Kelly could see the servos implanted in her arm.

"Not today," Kelly replied, and grasped the cyborg's metal arm, interfacing with her opponent's mechanical systems. "Today, you will die." She slid her mind into the multiple subsystems of her opponent, looking through them to see where they were and what they did. Finally, she reached the systems inside the chest cavity, finding multiple life support systems, including one that regulated the heartbeat of the agent. Kelly looked into the eyes of her opponent, and an idiot grin growing on her face. She only had to use a bit of energy to overload the system, causing it to heat up rapidly. For whatever reason, the Director had filled the system with highly flammable liquid, and when Kelly found the spark plug and a receiver, she understood what this was really for. So she set the spark plug off, pulling out of the agent's body so she could watch her handiwork. Her opponent let go of Kelly, and she grinned darkly as the agent groped at her heart, but she could do nothing. "Bad case of heartburn?" Kelly laughed as the agent fell to her knees, still trying to reach at what was on fire in her chest. Finally, she collapsed, the fires burning out her heart. Kelly strolled over to her opponent, kneeling beside the mechanical arm and touching it, accessing the detachment system. Adyson looked at Kelly, only to realize that she'd taken her opponent's arm and was pointing a built in firearm of some kind at her.

Adyson concentrated hard, closing her eyes before opening them again. "You don't want to shoot me with that," she spoke, waving a hand over Kelly's face.

"I don't want to shoot you with this," Kelly replied, before shaking her head, "I'm gonna shoot you with this!" She fired, and Adyson let out a yelp at a sudden pricking, only to look down and see that there were five tranquilizer darts on her torso.

"Just great," Adyson mumbled before she passed out.

"Couldn't have agreed with you more," Kelly replied as she tossed the metal arm aside.

Siegfried was having fun, there was no doubt about it. He stood there, back to back with Taylan, his cane smashing anyone who came after him before he whipped out a micro pistol from his waistband. He spun the silencer, which was bigger than the pistol itself, onto the firearm, taking aim at the nearest enemy agent and letting off a shot. The micro pistol discharged, but instead of a bullet, an energy bolt shot out of the weapon, smashing into the agent Siegfried had been aiming at. The agent flew back, his chest smoking. Two more agents charged Siegfried, and he took another one out with the micro pistol before the second one was nearly on top of him. Siegfried sidestepped his charge, and as he stumbled past Siegfried, he smashed the steel handle of his cane into the back of his opponent's skull. The agent fell on the ground, groping at the wound Siegfried had delivered. Siegfried strolled over to his wounded enemy, turning him over with a boot. The agent had been faking it though, and knocked Siegfried onto his back,

"How-?" Siegfried tried to ask before the agent lifted him up by the collar of his suit and punched him square in the jaw.

"My muscles and skeleton has been increased by tenfold. Your puny attack did absolutely nothing to me. My teammates, however, fell to your peashooter. Not me. I shall have to flay you alive for this," Siegfried raised an eyebrow as the agent spoke.

"If that's true, then you won't mind if I get my 'peashooter', now will you?" Siegfried asked.

The agent grinned. "Do your worst. Then I'll show you the meaning of pain." He tossed Siegfried over towards his gun.

Siegfried grinned at his luck. He had the simplest way to take this one out, all he needed to do was time it right. He removed the silencer from his micro pistol, reloading a fresh clip into the gun. He raised his gun at the agent, who was slowly advancing towards his opponent. Siegfried fired five times in rapid succession, his opponent freezing on the spot. Then Siegfried's experimental bolter rounds finished their job, exploding inside their target. The agent swayed before falling like a monstrous tree to the ground. Siegfried walked over to the agent, examining his work. "Huh. Well, at least I know they work," Siegfried stated to no one in particular. "I'll take that," he pulled the cane out from his opponents hands and strolled away, whistling and twirling his cane.

Taylan was holding his own against two of the "enhanced" agents, already having two of his copies fighting the opponents. As luck would have it, Taylan's opponents had been trained in case they faced someone like him, and so when they took out his copies quicker than he'd expected, the first punch one of the agents threw took him in the ribs, sending him a good few feet back before landing on the ground. Taylan had to roll away as the other agent brought his foot down where his face had been. Unfortunately for Taylan, he did not have anyone to function as eyes in the back of his head, so when the first agent kicked him in the head with his combat boot, he saw stars. This allowed for the second agent to join in, and before he knew it, he was being beaten with no respite. Taylan responded to this easily; he created at least twenty copies of himself and got up, growling at his opponents. By the time the agents realized which copy was real, he already had his hands around one of their necks.

"Too easy," he growled as he began to absorb his opponent's life force. He began to do so until his opponent stopped moving and became dead weight in his hands. Of course, the reserves of another human was too much energy for Taylan to absorb, so after he healed himself with the stolen energy, the remaining energy was discharged at his other opponent, leaving that opponent a smoking heap. Taylan grinned, the release of so much energy making him a little giddy. "Hey, Siegfried!" he shouted, grinning widely.

Siegfried looked over at his teammate. "Taylan?"

"Let's go kill Dorito-head! C'mon, it'll be fun!"

"Taylan, are you insane?"

"With all this energy, yeah. Now c'mon! If we can't kill the little guy we can at least watch Sienna beat him, right? Right?"

Siegfried sighed, "Fine, Taylan. Let's go."

"Yeah!" Taylan shouted, a bit too enthusiastically.

Sienna had already reached Phineas, her agility allowing her to dodge between the less agile opponents who tried to challenge her. She'd have to remember to snap a few necks for that. That was, if the offenders weren't already dead. As it had turned out, the Director had seen her with the potential of an amazing gymnast and used that to his ability, turning her into someone who could hold her own in the Olympics. Of course, with nothing but the most forceful trainer, the Supervisor, and at least eight years of training, she should have been- or else she'd have been dead. As she flipped over towards the Flynn boy, she made sure to mentally picture that girl Isabella. Even as she did so, her transfiguration power worked to the best of its ability, transforming her into the likeness of the younger Hispanic girl. _Now time for some real fun_, she thought as she finished her transformation and landed in front of Phineas. The younger boy's eyes widened as he noticed the person in front of him.

"Isabella," he spoke, his voice filled with joy that quickly turned to dread as he saw 'Isabella' take up a defensive fighting stance. "Isabella? What happened?"

Sienna laughed, "Isabella's with Lisa and out for the count. Doesn't mean I can stop using this form though," she replied, and morphed herself into her normal form to show Phineas who she really was. "Now I know that you'd love to beat me up," she continued, before turning back into Isabella, "But can you stand beating your girl up in the process?" she could feel her reformed mouth form into an amused smirk.

Phineas' eyes widened significantly as he came to the same realization. "Why?" he asked her, "Why are you all out to try and flay my mind open? It's not fair! You killed Jeremy, for god's sake. Why? What is this place and why in God's name am I the one you see fit to terrorize?"

Sienna grinned widely, her opponent becoming increasingly unstable, "Frankly, Phineas, I don't really give a damn about your questions. I was here to take you in, and I did. Now I'm getting one of the greatest rewards ever. If you really want questions answered, go ask the Director. That is, if he's feeling in the mood. If he isn't, he'll just kill you after torturing your family to death, right in front of you. So don't plan on getting answers any time soon."

Phineas growled something unintelligible before Sienna could hear him mutter, "Not fair. Not fair. Not fair. Not fair at all. Do you hear me, you bastards? This isn't fair! Tell me why you've put me here! Tell me!" His voice increasing in volume as he continued.

"Hate to break it to you, Phineas, but life isn't fair," Sienna replied, the smirk still on her face. But when Phineas turned to face her, Sienna realized that she might have pushed the boy too far.

"Did you just tell me that life isn't fair, Sienna?" Phineas rounded on her, a vein in his forehead pulsing. "Are you seriously going to use that clichéd line?" Sienna was suddenly lifted up into the air, Phineas bringing her closer to himself. "Do you realize just how idiotic you sounded? And do you realize I can still kill you right now?"

"Kill her and Isabella dies," a voice from behind Phineas spoke, and he turned around to see Lisa cradling Isabella's form with a six inch blade to the girl's throat. "Really, as I see it, either way you'll be killing Isabella. Do you really want her to die because of you?"

Phineas gritted his teeth and was about to reply with a scathing remark before Sienna drew his attention back to herself. "And remember Phineas," she shifted into Luther in the span of less than a second, "Protect my sister with your life." And then she shifted back into Isabella's form.

Phineas growled as the rest of the teens gathered in a ring around him. "What's to stop me from just killing her anyway?" he asked. His blood was running hot, and he wasn't even bothering to think this through. "It's not like you'll be able to stop me."

Lisa dismissively waved her hand at Phineas, "By all means, if you think you ought to, go ahead. I'll just have fun picking through your psyche after you've gone and killed your best friend- twice. Oughta be interesting."

Phineas stared at the girl who had once been his friend, trying to find a justifiable reason to kill his captive. Failing that, he let out a curse and released his hold on Sienna. As soon as he did, Taylan clapped his hands together, with Phineas' head in between, causing the red head to emit a yelp before passing out onto the floor.

As Lisa was leaving, Sienna caught up to her. "Was that really necessary? I was nearly killed!"

Lisa rounded on her teammate, Isabella having been given to another of her teammates so she could walk freely. "Yes."

Sienna blanched noticeably. "You mean you would've let him kill me?"

Lisa looked over her shoulder at her companion. "In short, yes," she replied.

Sienna grabbed Lisa's shoulder and spun her around. "What the hell, Lisa! I know that the job comes with hazards, but seriously, I don't need you tossing my life away like that!"

Lisa glanced up at Sienna, "Hypocrite. You got yourself into that position, and you should be thanking me for saving your ass back there."

Sienna growled; Lisa always had that one card that she could never get. Always shifting the blame, and always able to make up believable excuses. She should have known better than to engage her in an argument. Whenever they'd done so in the past, Lisa, once again, usually had the ace up her sleeve- sometimes literally. "So that's it? Whatever trust and friendship we had before is gone?"

Lisa took a moment to think about it, "In essence, yes."

Instead of continuing what had turned into a useless conversation, Sienna just punched Lisa in the jaw before stalking away, muttering curses quietly, but still loud enough to make sure that her bastard of a friend could still hear them.

**A/N: Ta-da! Second to last chapter before the actual darkness! And you guys who love your grimdark will LOVE those chaps. Once again, thanks to Lancelot and all my reviewers out there, and stay tuned for the next chapter: Preliminary Adjustments!**

**-Terra**


	9. Preliminary Adjustments

**A/N: Welcome back to more darkness! Enjoy!**

Chapter 9: Preliminary Adjustments

The Director sat and watched as his test subjects were moved into the experimental room, which he'd converted back from that "training field" he'd had before. By now, the room had been drastically shrunk, making it close to a fourth of the monstrosity it had once been. It had also been divided off into thirds, and placed on what seemed to be one of the old railroad turntables, so that the Director could swivel the display to see a certain one of the test subjects, if he wished to. He had other things to attend to. He could worry about the apparatus later; he needed the two conduits along with the observatory. Once that was done, it was only a matter of keeping the parents suitably distracted, which he could do quite easily. And then there were the ELFs that needed to be taken care of. He figured that there was an easy way to keep that 'conspiracy' boy from interfering. In fact, he'd let the boy see and hear as much as he wanted to and then some. The girl, however, was a bit of a problem. He supposed he could just give her to Phlint as the equivalent of sword practice, but how would that traumatize her? Sure, she'd get some superficial cuts, but nothing more. No, he needed something bigger for that one. He figured he'd figure something out eventually. As it was, the other, angrier boy would be given the perfectly traumatizing treatment, so the Director had no need to worry about that one. As for the others, he would let their own minds build their 'treatment' for him, and he'd merely show them a good time for their efforts.

He was interrupted when the Supervisor walked in, dragging a heavy glass box into the Director's makeshift office, setting it down by the observation window. "This good? I know you wanted him close to window, so I figured this'd work."

The Director looked up from his contemplations, "Right there should be good. All we'll need are the chair, wires, and subject, and then he's set for conduit duty."

The Supervisor nodded, procuring a bundle of wires from inside his jacket and proceeded to hook them up to the container, attaching one on either side of said box before placing what looked like a dentist's chair inside. Except this chair had straps.

The Director grinned widely, "Perfect. Just perfect."

**ΩΩ**

Isabella woke up... in an analog of a hospital bed, no less. However, the bed had one major difference; there were restraints clamped around her wrists and ankles. She also took notice of the now-familiar feel of a limiter collar around her neck, and there actually was an IV drip hanging beside her bed. She tried to move, but she was still a bit groggy from her recent awakening. She turned her head to examine her surroundings, and noticed someone else in the same room as her, similarly strapped to an identical bed.

"Hello?" she tried to speak, but her voice was hoarse and it came out much quieter and rougher than she'd ever heard her voice before. The other inhabitant still recognized her voice, though.

"Isabella? Is that you? I mean really you?" Phineas' voice was scratchy and quiet in a similar manner to her own voice, but unlike Isabella's own, Phineas' voice sounded a bit distrustful. Why, Isabella had no idea, but she answered his question.

"I'm not completely sure what you mean, Phineas. But yes, it really is me," Isabella replied, and was greeted with what she interpreted to be a sigh of relief. There was a long moment where neither spoke, merely just looking at their surroundings, until Isabella noticed something. "Phineas, do you know what's on your head?" she asked, a tinge of fear creeping into her voice. Knowing what little she did about her captor, her mind strayed into how this could harm her. What kind of torture device was it? A water boarding machine? A pain inducer? A brainwashing device? A-

"I'm not completely sure what it is, Isabella," Phineas cut into her thoughts. "All I know are two things: one, it's been on me ever since I woke up, and two, you seem to have one on you too."

Isabella's eyes widened at the second statement, and she tried to reach up to her head before remembering that her wrists were essentially useless here. She was trying really hard to breathe normally, and so far she'd been failing at it. She couldn't really see much besides herself and Phineas, but she hoped that there would be someone who would come in and free them. She really did feel like she had been shut away in a dungeon, just waiting for someone to come and take her to the torture room. Then she saw, no more than a story or two upstairs, that there was a dimly lit office with two men standing inside, both of them extremely large. As she squinted in a futile attempt to see them better, one of the men left the room only to come back with a struggling form in his grasp. The form was shoved into what seemed to be a containment chamber of some sort, and the larger man restrained the smaller one until he was clamped into a chair. Isabella could hear muffled shouting, but it was very quiet and she had to strain her ears to even make out what the figure had been saying. At least, until the larger man attached some sort of helmet to the one who was being restrained by the chair and sent a pulse of electricity that was so great, Isabella could see the victim smoking slightly. She turned her head away as the larger man sent another jolt into his victim. She couldn't hear it, but the victim would have to have been screaming as ungodly amounts of electrical power pulsated through him.

"There... there's someone up there," she stated, feeling pathetic for having to state the obvious. However, Phineas apparently hadn't seen the person before.

"What are they doing to him?" Isabella could hear Phineas' voice filled with what seemed to be fear.

Isabella turned to Phineas, a sad look in her eyes, even if he couldn't see it. "I don't know, Phineas," she answered, at a loss for words. As she lay there, beside her first and only real love, she realized something: "This might be our last time we see each other," she whispered, "Phineas, I think there's something I need to tell you. I-"

But Phineas had cut her off- again. "Isabella, no matter how bad this looks, I promise you we will get out of here, no matter what it takes. I will make sure of that."

Isabella looked forlornly at her best friend. "But how can you protect any of us if you're stuck in here with us?" her voice was getting worse and worse by the minute, and it became quieter and quieter. This, however, silenced Phineas, and she turned to him, only to see him staring at her, a bit of a hurt look in his eyes. This was the one time he had no answer, and the worst time of all not to answer. However, even if he had had an answer, it would have been interrupted by a certain someone who was passing by their room. Neither had realized it, but there happened to be a window looking in on them from a main hallway of some kind.

"Well well well," a voice projected through the window, meaning there was a microphone of some sort attached to it, "look who we've got here."

Isabella couldn't see who it was, but judging from how Phineas reacted, it could only be one person. If she could have seen Phineas' eyes at that point, she would have seen something no one had ever seen: hatred. Hatred for her betrayal, hatred for her torture of his friends, and hatred for her as the cause of not one, but more than likely, multiple deaths. "Lisa!" he roared, struggling to break free, "I'll get you for this! I don't care if I have to climb out of a grave to do it, I'll get you for this!"

The speaker, apparently Lisa, laughed into the mic. "Face it, Flynn. You're done for, and there's nothing left you can do! I think that if you should be worrying about anyone other than yourself, it'd be your friend upstairs."

Phineas was about to speak when a cry of pain equal to that of a wounded animal pierced the air, and his gaze flicked up to the figure inside what seemed to be a box. "Who is it, Lisa?" he shouted, "Who are you torturing up there?"

Isabella could almost see Lisa grinning at them, "You'll find out at some point. But to hell with it, I'll just give you a hint: he happens to be someone very close to both of you."

Isabella's eyes shot open, "Ferb!" she called hoarsely, her voice echoing through the chamber.

Lisa's surprise was actually palpable, "Really Isabella? I would have thought that you of all people would have gotten it right on the first try."

Isabella stared at the box in horror before releasing what could only be described as a scream, "Luther!"

Lisa could be heard chuckling to herself, "Very good, girl. So much for sibling togetherness, putting someone else's brother before your own brother. That's just... ouch. I'll have to tell him about that one, see what he thinks of you then."

Isabella was fighting against her restraints, "Let me go, Lisa! I can't let him suffer like that!"

Lisa laughed into the microphone, "Which was precisely the reason why we've put him there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to kick a few more puppies. Have fun getting your souls raped."

Isabella let out another cry as she tried again to break her restraints, tears streaming down her face and blood starting to run down into her palms as the metal restraints cut into the skin on her wrists. Phineas tried to stop her, but from his position, there wasn't really anything he could do but speak, and he could tell that in the state she was now, distraught and bleeding, she needed to be held. Sadly for him, the cuffs wouldn't allow him to, even if he had been close enough to reach each other. As he stared at her struggling form, he realized something was different.

Isabella had always been thin for her age, and only recently, Phineas had noted, she had started- as some of the boys put it- filling out. But now, looking at his friend, he saw that she was even thinner than she had been in middle school. His mind racing, he tried to think up any scenario that would have caused this. He tried to think up any scenario other than the more obvious one, but as far as he could tell, the obvious was the truth: Isabella was, at some point, starved for a lengthy period of time. Phineas tried yet again to control his rage that someone would have done something like that too his best friend, but for once, he had no way to do so. There was nothing to preoccupy him now, like there had been at school. No crazy projects, like there had been after school and during the summer. Just Isabella. She had been around about as long as Ferb had been, and Phineas would have loved to have been able to call her his sister. And now, she was in horrible pain, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. It felt worse than any kind of pain he'd ever felt before, and he'd had some intense pains over the years. But this, this was even worse, only being able to watch his friend struggle as the second cry of pain escaped Luther's lips, his threshold for pain somehow much higher than a normal person's. Her hair was falling down around her face, and mercifully obscured his view to the pain in her eyes, and the tears glistening from the light on her cheeks. And then, Phineas did something he thought he'd never do again. Faced with such a great wall of despair, Phineas bowed his head, his chin touching his chest, and began to cry.

**ΩΩ**

"Should I continue, sir?" the Supervisor asked, poised to throw the switch to the generator again and send another electrical pulse into Luther.

The Director shook his head as he stood up, "Not yet, old friend. I feel that he may be sufficiently subdued for me to examine his burns. As it is, we're wasting power on him. His threshold is so high that it takes an abnormal amount of power to get those screams out of him. Mainly because he's used to absorbing energy, and he's built up a sort of tolerance to electrical pulses. That's why I'm only going to hook him up to the conduit and watch him suffer. It will certainly be fun, don't you think?"

The Supervisor nodded, a grin on his weathered features. "I plan on staying to watch, sir," he replied, and took a step back as the Director fitted two thick wires to either side of a helmet which was then placed on Luther's head.

"Now all we have to do is wait for our conduit to fire up the actual 'scape before we show this boy what real pain means," the Director stated, grinning wolfishly as he shut the door to the glass compartment and locking it tightly.

**ΩΩ**

"And this is why you're the muscle and not the brains," Lisa replied as she finished talking to Buford and Adyson, who were both in the same room. Finally she reached the room that housed the green-haired Brit.

She watched as he merely sat in his chair, his eyes tight in concentration. She decided that the nicest thing to do would be to break that concentration, "Hiya Ferb!" she grinned inwardly at the way she sounded.

Ferb's eyes slowly opened, and Lisa could still see the delicious pain in them. But there was something else that she felt after that. Some emotion she couldn't quite place, and that could only mean it was because she hadn't experienced it in a long time, if ever. What was it called? Did she really feel- she was cut off when Ferb replied.

"What do you want, Lisa?" Ferb responded, his response time a little slower than usual, but Lisa could understand that. The IV that they'd introduced to the captives had been designed to keep the captives in an eternal groggy state until they were removed from the thing. Once that happened, they'd only take a few days or so to be back up to speed.

"Oh, just wanted to congratulate you on being a complete moron and almost liking me. And for actually saving someone. Too bad people hardly ever do stuff like that these days. Doesn't stop you from being insanely stupid, but I figured you at least deserve recognition. And if you think I'm being nice, just wait until you see what happens next!" she had started to get giddy again, and she was bouncing on the balls of her feet with anticipation and excitement. "It's going to be so much fun! Well, for me. Not so much for you. And what's with this other guy?" If Ferb had been able to see her, she would have pointed at Baljeet, who was silent the entire time. "Oh well. Gonna be so much fun! See ya later!" she grinned and bounced away, a feeling of elation greeting her as she reached Smithers' new toy.

There wasn't really too much to describe about it, mainly because all she could see was this box-like with wires feeding into a rather large chair and helmet. The flickering light in the hallway gave it an ominous presence, but Vastile, ever the enthusiast, didn't really care.

"You'd think with all the money, we'd actually pay the electric bills," Lisa muttered as she moved closer to the machine, examining it. "Ooo! Big leather seat, extreme life support system, random screens everywhere; I'll call you the Pandorica!" Lisa grinned at her own joke before Smithers appeared from the shadows. "Oh! Now I get it! We don't pay the electric bill so that it gives us more chances to go all ninja on each other? That's so cool! When can I do that?"

Smithers grinned at Lisa. This girl was actually one of his favorite agents, mostly due to her "snark", as she called it. "Hello, Lisa. How did the mission treat you?" he gave the closest thing to a warm smile he could give.

Lisa smiled back at Smithers, who seemed to be the only adult who actually somewhat liked her. "Just fine. Did you intercept the stuff I smuggled in from the safe house? Never really got to see what exactly they were, just that they were some random comic books I was able to lay my hands on."

Smithers tossed her one, "I've got a feeling you'll like it."

Lisa stared at it in excitement, "You made it, Wade!" She held up the book. "My hero," she stated, grinning like an idiot/

Smithers nearly laughed at her joke. "Just make sure the Director doesn't catch you with it. He'd probably flip if you were reading it and not doing your job," he replied.

"Mm-hm. Yeah, I'm fine without bullet wounds," Lisa mulled over the thought. "Anyway, whatcha got for me here?"

Smithers pointed to the machine Lisa stood in front of, "This doesn't really have a name, because the Director wanted me to get it up and running ASAP. And since you've got the closest thing to actual telepathy we've got here, you're going to be the conduit here."

"So what? I'm some sort of vessel that absorbs all the backwashed energy? I think not," Lisa crossed her arms.

"Actually, there's someone you captured whose power is to specifically absorb energy. He'll be the one absorbing the backwash, and the Director figures that as the energy's siphoned into him, it'll be purified and send back to you in a continuous loop. I've looked at the plan, and it seems sound. So you'll feel a slight tingling before the energy's transferred and ends up going through the other conduit and back into you," Smithers explained.

Lisa nodded. "I see. And what's this device even for?"

Smithers grinned devilishly, "I can't tell you everything, now can I?"

Lisa returned his grin, "Fine. Now how do I get strapped in?"

Smithers instructed to her the different steps she had to do and switches she had to throw before she could operate the device, which she did. Finally, the box began to close in on her, and Smithers left her with the final statement, "Get on headset and I'll coach you on where to go from there." Lisa was only able to respond with a curt nod before Smithers disappeared from view.

Inside the box, Lisa turned to one of the screens, placing her hand on the thing so that it could identify her. As it did so, projectors hidden out of her view created what she identified as virtual screens. What they were supposed to display, she had no idea, but one by one they began to flicker on, each one titled a different name of the captives. Each image showed a grainy picture of what the each person could see. As she placed the headset, which turned out to be a helmet, on her head, Smithers' voice came through, "How is it in there?"

"Pretty good," Lisa replied. "Now about these screens. What-" Lisa was cut off when the Director's voice appeared in her ear.

"They're what each captive can see right now. When we activate the captives, you'll be able to go into their minds too," his voice came through the speaker, much darker-sounding than Smithers. "All you'll have to do is access each mind, and then the programming will kick in and do its work. All you have to do is follow the usual rules, and everything should go exactly as planned."

Lisa nodded, waiting for the second conduit to be hooked up to the system and activated. She knew she'd be having a lot of fun with this "experiment".

**ΩΩ**

Jarv woke up in a square metal room, with no door in sight. He sighed, sitting down and leaning against the wall, his feet splayed out in opposite directions from each other. He figured that the Director would eventually come on to boast how he'd defeated everyone and was going to kill them all, so he just sat and wait.

"Aw, now why such inactivity?" a voice came through the intercom well above his head. He didn't think he'd ever hear the voice again, but he responded anyway.

"Not like I can really do anything from here," he replied, casting his eyes around the room, searching for the camera he was being viewed through. "So did you come here to gloat since your superior's away?"

"Nonsense," Jarv recognized the Director's voice. "I don't subsidize my gloating to underlings. They can't do it as well as I can."

"I can already see modesty is one of the many services you provide," Jarv replied dryly.

"Well, that and torture," the Director answered, completely ignoring Jarv's sarcasm. "Anyway, I felt that since you're an ELF and you're by default a danger to this universe's stability, I'd just torture you to death. Because I'm nice like that."

Jarv growled as he stood up, his eyes darting for a way out, but there was none. He examined the walls that he was enclosed by as the Director continued. "It's actually quite interesting. From what Phlint told me, there used to be a character in his favorite toy franchise that was able to amplify another's senses to the brink of insanity. Which is what I plan to use for you. At least, before I put you down."

Jarv's eyes widened, but he stayed silent, hoping that he could figure out a way to buy himself some more time. But he couldn't. "So I'm just going to start this now. Seems like since you try your hardest to see through normal event as government machinations, I'll amp up your eyesight." And with those damning words, Jarv entered his own personal hell.

**ΩΩ**

Annabell's eyes cracked open, only to slam back shut at the harsh lighting she'd been put in. She guessed it had been two or three since she'd been stuck into this confinement area, but she couldn't be certain. The lights were always on, and there were no clocks or windows for her to tell. Food was served, but she couldn't be certain if it was at the correct intervals. She'd had a total of seven or eight meals, and she hoped that meant she was only on her third day. If it was only her third though, she was having some serious exhaustion issues, because she'd taken at least six or seven naps over that time. Especially for someone who'd been knocked unconscious multiple times, she felt that she was sleeping way too often for the amount of time she thought she'd been held.

Her thoughts stopped when the gravity of her room switched. She had probably one of the weirdest rooms ever, one that could actually change the direction gravity came through. She had no idea how it worked, but it did, and that's what mattered. The new gravity smashed her flat against the wall opposite of the door, her head cracking against the concrete wall. She winced as she tried to reach for the back of her head, only to find that she wasn't able to move her hands from where they were. Another bit of oddness she'd encountered at her stay at the Facility. But she turned her gaze back to the door as it opened and two figures stepped inside.

"Ah, one of my favorite subjects," she recognized Smithers' voice immediately. The man had come in to check up on her periodically, and she had considered him to be much nicer than the Director until the tests he'd allowed run on her.

The other figure grinned at Annabell, and she fixed her face into a snarl at the two of them. "I'm surprised you were able to come here with me, sir," Thaddeus spoke to the scientist. "I had heard that you were busy guiding Lisa to use your new machine."

Smithers shook his head, his gaunt features putting a shadow on his face. How he was still able to even breathe after what he'd done, Annabell didn't know. But she wasn't worried about that right now. "The Director took over for me, so I had to find something to do. I figured that since Lawr made you a promise, I'd just go ahead and fulfill it, if you want."

Thaddeus' eyes widened significantly. "Are you serious, sir? You mean her?"

Smithers grinned evilly, "Why not? She needs to be knocked down a few pegs anyway. I'm sure we can make her obedient through that way. And it's worth a shot, no? I'm just interested in seeing if we can figure out what makes her tick before she dies. So here are some of the regular devices we use, along with a few extras I packed in myself." Smithers handed Thaddeus a small pouch. Annabell wasn't too worried until she heard clanking from the pouch, a sure sign of knives. Thaddeus reached into the bag, but he didn't pull out a knife. There was something else in his hand, a rather menacing ray gun-like device.

Thaddeus turned the device around in his hand, examining it. "What exactly is it?" he asked the much older man.

Smithers grinned menacingly and took it out of Thaddeus' hand. "Much better if I demonstrate it, no?" he aimed the device and pulled the trigger, and at first, Annabell felt nothing different. Then she let out a scream of agony, trying to twist away from whatever it was that was causing her pain. Then the pain stopped, and she relaxed, breathing heavily. Smithers still wore the smile he had before. "And that was just three. This thing goes all the way up to eleven."

Thaddeus raised an eyebrow, "Why eleven?" Smithers merely shrugged and muttered something about Vastile and something called "tropes".

Annabell had steadied her breathing by now, "What the hell was that?" she thought aloud.

Smithers smiled at her, and she shrank away from him. At least, she tried. "That, my dear, was one of my more favorite devices, a wave gun. It has been calibrated to fire a certain frequency wave that stimulates the parts of your brain responsible for pain and makes your body think you're in unbearable pain. The higher the number, the more intense the pain is and the more concentrated it is on the area the gun is pointed at. For example, a pulse at eleven aimed at your heart would stop it, but a pulse at the same level aimed at your foot would make you believe that your foot was just run over by a steamroller. Perhaps you would be able to recover the use of your foot, but anyone who's been hit with it in the hand has lost any kind of function of their hand. And for that reason alone," Smithers placed a device on the gun, "I'm not letting you raise the level any higher than six, Phlint. That is not lethal, even in high concentrations, so the Director will still be able to do what he plans to with our guest." With that, Smithers left the two of them alone.

Annabell turned and looked at Thaddeus, the pain still throbbing even as Thaddeus turned the dial as far as he could and aimed the gun at her again. She looked at her tormentor, but she would say nothing. She would not give him what he wanted. She would not beg for him not to. She would take the torture and spit back in his face when he paused. Then Thaddeus pulled the trigger while aiming at the general area of the torso, and she knew that no matter how strong she told herself she was, she wasn't. And so she screamed, louder and louder as Thaddeus aimed the gun further and further down her torso. She screamed as loudly as she could, but it was still of no use. And as soon as the gun was aimed at her hips, she screamed even louder.

Thaddeus chuckled, and then raised the level up to six.

**ΩΩ**

Candace had been wheeled into a dark room and left there. For how long, she had no idea. There were no clocks that she could see around her room or anywhere in this part of the facility, but that didn't matter as much at this point. What did matter was the fact that she could hear screaming. And a lot of it. It had stopped for a little bit, but had come back even worse than before, and it had been going on for an hour or so. She tried to figure out who it was, but could only tell that it was one of the women.

Suddenly, the screaming stopped, and Candace embraced the blissful silence. She knew it might have been wrong, but she needed to think, and with all the noise, it was much harder to do so.

After first proceeding to mourn for Jeremy for an hour or however long she cried, she got back down to the business of figuring out how to escape. After a moment's thought, she realized something, and, slightly giddy, she pulled out a short braid hidden inside the rest of her hair. It had been there for a while, ever since she'd asked Phineas if there had been a quicker way to use electronics than having a computer do everything for her. She did like the way things like Google and Yahoo worked, but they were just crammed with so much junk that the search engines couldn't sort out of the way. Which was why she decided to get a BEI designed to her specifications by Phineas and Ferb. The BEI- or Brain-Electronic Interface, as Phineas called it- could attach to anything electronic and would give her mind control over whatever functions that device happened to have. The BEI was a lifetime commitment, Phineas had told her, but she didn't mind. She had hoped it would become useful, but hadn't expected this to be where it became useful. After testing to make sure all her appendages were working, Candace moved on to the more important part of the procedure: connecting the BEI to her limiter collar. Fortunately, she had asked Phineas to make what she called "perma-contacts", specialized contact lenses that never needed replacement. Of course, Phineas and Ferb being who they were, they added a little extra to the perma-contacts. This included a system interface to what Phineas had assured her would be every single device that could or would be created in the next fifty years or so. Apparently, he had gone forward in time one last time just to get a list of said devices. Candace figured she wouldn't be using a flying car interface until years later, but with her brothers still being the two greatest inventors on the planet, she could never be too sure.

The BEI touched the collar, and she blinked a few times as lines of code began to scroll before her eyes. She waited until she found the 'disable' command on the collar, and with a seemingly loud click, the collar came off from around her chaffed neck. She rubbed her neck, hoping to ease the redness, but due to the lack of light, she couldn't tell if anything had changed. The next hour for Candace was spent silently celebrating by rolling around the room in her new wheelchair, with a large smile on her face. If anyone had been watching through the infrared camera mounted in her room - which wasn't so much a room as empty storage space - they would have seen a young woman who had just lost the only love she'd ever had seemingly happy. Of course, no one did. The Director only had an alarm set to detonate the collars if someone other than an agent from his agency tried to remove someone from their assigned room. The Director had made the decision that if his agents wished to see what the face of reality's threat looked like, they could do as they pleased, though the room would record if the prisoner was escorted or ran in or out of their room. Though Candace had no idea of such precautions.

She had gotten so excited by her relative newfound freedom that she didn't even realize that a steel panel from the wall was ripped from its place until it began to orbit her. She just stared at it in shock until the sound of it dropping to the ground echoed off the walls. She sat there for a bit, staring at the plate in front of her, before she realized what had happened. The panel hadn't been shot at her or aimed at her with any malicious intent. _She_ had done that. She had just lifted a steel plate up _with her mind_. The idea that she could do such a thing, if she was perfectly honest with herself, scared her. And it scared her badly. Not just because how much she could do, but how much someone with a mind like the Director could do with a power like her own.

"Maybe I had wanted to leave before," she spoke aloud to herself. "But now we need to leave. All of us."

_Candace?_ A voice resonated in her mind, and she wheeled back in surprise, shaking her head.

"Who said that? Show yourself!" she tried to throw as much authority as she could behind her voice.

_Candace? What are you talking about? It's me, sweetie. It's your mother._ The voice sounded extremely confused, and Candace was too.

"Mom?" she asked, then tried again, hoping her hunch was correct, _Mom, is that you?_

_Yes, Candace. I'm right here, sweetie. Now could you please explain how you're able to telepathically communicate with me when you have to collar on?_Linda seemed rather annoyed and cranky at the moment, which didn't surprise Candace at all, truthfully. She did have the right to be that way, especially under the current circumstances.

_Simple, Mom._She replied, feeling her confidence begin to come back slowly. _My collar's gone. I deactivated it with one of the boys' inventions._

_You did what?_Linda sounded more than a little surprised that she had accomplished such a feat. _Was it that braid you kept on telling me was a-?_

_A Brain-Electronic Interface?_Candace finished her sentence. _Yes, yes it was. Now see if you can wake some of the others. We've got some planning to do, oh Mother of Mine._ Candace's face contorted into a satisfactory smile as she telekinetically crushed the camera she'd sense when she'd probed the room with her limited spatial awareness. The Director wanted to give them hell? Then Candace would show him what it truly meant.

**A/N: Well, things certainly seem to be looking up for Candace and the parents. Too bad we won't get to see them for a while. As always, reviews are welcome, (OF COURSE!) and next up, we'll see some darkness. You thought the previous stuff was dark? Just you wait. You thought Alpha's composed of Karma Houdinis? Nope. Next month, expect the darkness to come for you. Expect beings of flesh and of stone. And no, it's not Medusa, before ANYONE can say that.**

**-Terra**


	10. Whispers in the Freezer

**A/N: Ah, hello all! Not too much to say, except happy Halloween and enjoy the Darkness!**

Chapter 8: Whispers in the Freezer

"I'm fine for now," Clancy tossed an empty can of soda into the air, piercing it with one, two, and then three razor-sharp shards of ice before it landed in his lap and he absorbed the ice again.

"Aw, c'mon Clancy!" Sienna watched in amusement as Kelly gave Clancy her 'puppy face'. "Don'tcha want to see what I brought back from Danville? It's awesome!"

"Well, let's see," Clancy replied. "From what I heard, the only thing you brought back was that old guy from the OWCA. And he isn't exactly awesome."

Kelly laughed, "No, Clancy. It's not that Major guy. Where are the others? They were supposed to be here ten minutes ago!"

Sienna grinned humorously, "It seems they had more sense than us."

Kelly pouted, "That's not very nice, Sienna."

Sienna turned to look at her friend. "Well, we weren't exactly taught how to be nice, Kelly. We were too busy being taught how to kill."

The doors opened, and the rest of Alpha walked in. "That is, except for the Allmother," Lawr said to Sienna, who nodded sadly.

Clancy chimed in, "There are still some times that I wish she was here. I wonder what it'd be like if she wasn't dead."

Siegfried and Taylan entered the room as well. "I don't know, but it was obvious that the Director didn't exactly like the news of her death. He was certainly enraged by it, to say the least," Siegfried added.

Kelly nodded, remembering the day quite clearly. The Director had been so angry he had actually condemned nearly half his staff for the day, and sent the other half after them. He had called it "weeding out the unnecessary expenses", but Kelly had seen the way he'd watched the archived footage from his office. It had been her, Lisa, and her brother who had been in the Director's office at the time, and they had been extremely close. Well, about as close as someone could get to Lisa. Siegfried had still been in Germany at the time, Taylan had been in the Russian department of the Agency, and Sienna had been in the gym, trying her hardest to impress the Supervisor with her considerable gymnastic skill. Kelly had seen the near-sadistic glee her superior had expressed as he watched what he called "The Proscriptions" finish up. Kelly had never been one inclined to blood and gore -she tolerated it, as it was necessary for one with her job- but this had been overkill.

"You know, there were actually a few rumors that the Director killed her," Kelly told the others, but her brother shook his head.

"The Director may do many things others would consider unspeakable, but I don't believe he'd kill his own wife."

"It is rather plausible though, Lawr," Siegfried mused.

Sienna nodded, "If she betrayed him, I wouldn't put it past him. He's done worse to lesser 'traitors'."

Clancy nodded, "Anyway, you wanted to show us something, Kelly?"

Kelly visibly brightened, as did the lights in the room. "You mean you guys'll come and see? Really?" Kelly sounded like a little girl, but she gave herself some slack since she liked to act young when she could.

Her brother chuckled. "Of course, Kelly. I wouldn't figure we all really have anything better to do," Lawr replied.

Kelly grinned widely. "Great! I'll be right back with it!" she ran off to what she considered her room to get the object of her newfound interest. Of course, what she called a room, others would have called a storage closet. "Nonsense," she muttered to herself, "A closet would be less wide and would have shelves instead of just a bed and a small window. Now c'mere you." She picked up the object she was looking for and carried it into Alpha's "lounge" area, which consisted of a couple of sofas and chairs, along with a recently acquired TV.

Kelly stepped into the light, holding the object. "Ta-da!" she announced, and all the faces in the room turned to look at her even as the object in her arms made a noise like someone trying to start up a dying motor.

Taylan took one look at it and raised an eyebrow, "What is it?"

Siegfried replied before Kelly could, "It's a platypus, Taylan. Better question is why?"

Kelly grinned, "He used to be Phineas and Ferb's, but since they're otherwise occupied, I figured I'd take care of the little guy. Cause he's PERRY!" Kelly placed Lisa's discarded fedora on top of Perry's head, "PERRY THE PLATYPUS!"

Sienna laughed, "That's cute, Kelly. But how do you plan on keeping him? The Director's sure to forbid you from doing so."

Kelly shrugged, "He hasn't said anything so far. Lisa said he could be our team pet, but then she also said something about how the Director might not like it, because of something called 'Rule 42'."

Lawr raised an eyebrow, "Rule 42? What are the other forty-one?"

Sienna thought for a second, "You know, I remember Lisa talking about something called the 'Evil Overlord List'. Maybe that was it?"

Kelly's eyes widened, "You mean this?" She pulled out a few sheets of paper stapled together, "Lisa gave this to me to read."

Lawr took the packet from her and looked at it, "Rule One: My legions of terror will have clear Plexiglas visors, not face-concealing ones."

Siegfried listened intently. "You know, this might actually be smart," he noted.

"Rule Two," Lawr continued, "My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through."

Taylan snorted, "So this is basically the common sense list for an overlord?"

Clancy replied, "I think Vastile called it 'genre savviness'."

Sienna sighed, rubbing her eyes, which Kelly noticed. "What's wrong, Sienna?" she asked, plopping down on the sofa beside her friend, the fedora-adorned platypus still in her arms.

Sienna frowned. "Is it really that obvious?" she asked.

Lawr and the others now were all staring intently at Sienna. Siegfried decided to break the silence, "Sienna, we aren't exactly very good at hiding emotions, what with having hardly any outside contact. Lisa's actually the only one who can really mask her emotions, and that's because she's the one who needs to the most."

Sienna looked up, "What's that supposed to mean? Lisa's everyone's favorite now?"

Lawr chuckled, "If she wasn't insubordinate all the time, she would've been the Alpha, not me. Besides, Vastile, Kelly, and I have been here the longest. The Director's been trying to mold us since the ages of five or six, or in Kelly's case, four."

Kelly nodded, "I'm actually surprised Lawr and I aren't really any worse for wear. Lisa's the one who just decided to shut everything out around seven, a few weeks or so before Clancy, Siegfried, and Taylan got here. You came in about a year later, Sienna, and by then-"

Lawr finished his sister's sentence, "-by then, Lisa cut herself off from everything and everyone. She started to prefer the Director's company to ours. There was even one point where a younger child went after her with a knife, and Lisa disarmed him before knocking him out. But she didn't stop there. She began to let her powers run rampant and give the kid the worst nightmare of his entire life. Of course, her powers weren't fully developed, and the nightmare went to everyone within the common room. By the time she was subdued, ten kids died. The nightmare had been so bad that it had stopped their hearts."

Clancy nodded, "I remember that... it was like nothing I've ever seen."

Sienna leaned forward intently, "Could the Director have arranged it to separate the weak from the strong?"

Taylan inclined his head forward, "It's possible. I wouldn't put it past him to test Vastile. She was one of his favorites, so it isn't much of a stretch to assume he incited Vastile to thin the herd a bit."

Sienna decided to move to a different subject, "What actually happened? In the nightmare, I mean."

Lawr shook his head, "None of us want to relive that experience, Sienna. But the point is that no matter how much of an ass Lisa can be to anyone, she's more loyal to us than to anyone else, except maybe the Director. She was testing Phineas back there, I could tell. She'd have stopped his heart before he got the chance to kill you."

Sienna maintained a healthy amount of skepticism. This was the same girl who'd actually renounced any kind of trust between the two of them, the same one who'd felt fine bartering with a 'friend's life. "Are you certain, Lawr? She said herself that there wasn't any kind of trust between us now. And now you're telling me that she'd lay down her life for me?"

Lawr nodded, and Sienna frowned. But before either could say a word, Kelly interrupted them, "Lisa's not the greatest with trust, Sienna. It took her a few years to actually trust me enough to room with me when she was forced to find a roommate here. She might have trouble saying that she trusts you, but if you know her well enough and are able to consider yourself her friend, then she really does trust you. I mean, how did you guys get along at school?"

Sienna responded cautiously, "We got along pretty well. She and I seemed to be pretty good friends. Why?"

Kelly smiled, "Don't you worry, Sienna. She trusts you."

Lisa was picking through the redhead's mind when her headset crackled to life again, bringing her out of a trance-like state for a moment.

"What is it?" she asked, annoyed, "I was just getting to the good part!"

"Hello Vastile," the Director's voice sounded like a blade being rubbed against stone in her ear.

"What do you need? I'm kind of busy at the moment," Lisa replied impatiently, ready to get back to work. She couldn't give Flynn's brain too much of a respite, or else he'd break through the illusion.

The Director's chuckle sent a shudder along Lisa's spine, something she'd never experienced before. "Lisa Lisa Lisa," the Director spoke, his voice reminding her of someone who smoked three packs a day. But she knew he didn't smoke. "I've been looking over your logs for the past two years, and found a surprising amount of humanity in them. It seems if I want the perfect agent you were supposed to be, I'll have to finally strip that pesky personality of yours down into something cold and calculating."

Lisa started to panic slightly, "But I've been both of those ever since I dropped my cover! You don't need to do anything!"

She could just imagine the look on the Director's face. A sadistic grin was probably set on it by now, but his eyes would have flashed with both obvious and hidden danger. "Lisa, how long will it take you to realize that the real problem with you is that you're too unorthodox whenever you're not on a mission of any kind? If you stuck to the rules, you would've been the leader of Alpha, not second in command."

Lisa's eyes actually began to tear up, which they hadn't done in a while, "I don't want to lose my entire personality! Let me do this, and then we can figure something else out!"

The Director merely replied, "Don't you worry, Lisa. I'll make sure to erase your memories so that you don't remember what you used to be. It'll actually be better this way, for all of us."

Lisa struggled to remain in control of herself, "What about the others? Like Lawr and Kelly? Certainly they had some say in this."

The Director's surprise was nearly palpable. "What would ever give you that idea? Besides, it seems you've rubbed off on all of Alpha. They may not be as far gone as you are, but they're too far. I'll be killing most of them shortly, so you'd best say goodbye to them in here, because by the time you're out, you won't remember them and they won't be here to be remembered. You've doomed them all."

Lisa struggled against the restraints in the chair, "No! Damn you, stop this! Don't do this!"

The Director's laugh echoed in her mind, "Don't worry, this will hurt. A lot."

Lisa could only scream as she felt a mental probe smash through her defenses and rip into her mind.

Phineas woke up on an ice-cold floor, a chill running down his spine as he stood up, trying to take in his surroundings. He was in some kind of dark room, with no windows or doors as far as he could see, but then again, that wasn't exactly too far with no lights on. He got up and tried to locate the light switch with his mind and telekinetically flip it on, but he found the lack of power disturbing. He felt his way over to what he believed was a doorway and was able to turn the handle, which crackled loudly from accumulated ice. It was only then that Phineas noticed he was in a freezer of some type, and that it was absolutely freezing. And the fact that he had no jacket, only what he would have considered his 'summer clothing'.

"Where am I?" Phineas muttered to himself as the door crackled open, its hinges also caked with ice. _At least it's somewhere with light,_ Phineas thought as he noticed the flickering light further down the hall. This room hall was a bit warmer, but not by much, and Phineas continued to shiver. He finally reached the light, which gave him a view of a large storage area, lights leading towards what Phineas assumed was the exit.

Phineas walked for close to a half hour before he could see an exit of some kind in sight. Except there was some kind of stone statue in the way, dressed like any other stone angel, but its wings seemed to have been broken off. The face was still recognizable, but Phineas couldn't place it. He shrugged and stepped by it, running his hands along the edges of a bay door in front of him, when he heard a grinding noise behind him. He spun around, fists raised, but the only thing behind him was the angel. Though Phineas could have sworn that it was further away before. And its hands had been covering its entire face, and now they covered everything except the forehead. Phineas shrugged. As of now, it didn't really matter. He was too busy trying to find a way out that he had made a few mistakes remembering a meaningless statue. He set to work at opening the bay doors, pulling the chain at the side down, slowly opening the door. It was then that he heard more grinding, and he turned around again, once again seeing the stone angel. But this time, he stepped back cautiously, not really looking at it.

"H-Hello?" he called, peering cautiously around the corner, taking refuge behind the angel. He was given no response, so he cautiously inched around the angel, his back against its own. "Let me know if there's anyone in front of you, okay?" he grinned.

He took another step forward away from the statue, and heard the sound again. He spun around, his eyes scanning the area, before he saw some writing on the bay door. He didn't even notice that the angel was staring at him, its hands by its sides.

He walked up to the bay door, and looked at the writing on it. "The Weeping Angels," he mused, rubbing his chin. "Wonder what that means?" he was answered by another grinding noise, and he spun around this time, and froze in shock.

The statue was only a few feet away from him, its hands reaching out towards him, its mouth wide open, dagger-like teeth having turned to stone. Phineas slowly backed away from the suddenly-demonic statue. "What the-?" he slipped and fell, and hit his head on the bay door, rattling his vision. When it focused again, the Angel stood over him, its face contorted into a smug sneer. Phineas saw something behind it, a message of sorts. _Don't even blink._ Phineas looked back at the Angel, and then rolled under the bay door before closing it quickly.

He rose and searched for a light switch and found one, flipping it on to see an odd sight- he was in his own garage. But it was freezing still in here, and he could see bunches of meat hooks hanging from the ceiling, though there was no meat to be seen. Phineas, curious, opened the door to find it led into where it was supposed to: his home. He stepped inside, shivering against the cold that seemed to permeate the entirety of his home. Once again, he saw meat hooks hanging from the ceiling, but no meat. He continued through his house, even as he could hear the screeching of tearing metal. The Angel was demolishing his garage door, somehow. But Phineas wasn't too worried about that. He was more worried about the two Angels standing in his living room. They hadn't noticed him, he thought, so he slowly moved towards the stairs, keeping careful watch of both of them.

He must have blinked, because one moment the two Angels were there, the next they were at the foot of the stairs, teeth bared, arms stretching out towards him. Phineas cried out in alarm and scrambled up the stairs, trying to keep them in his sight before he ran into his room and locked the door behind him.

His room was quite nice, and he sat down on his bed, trying to relax. He glanced out his window, but when he saw the view, he stared. The sky was red, and pulsating like something out of a horror movie, but for now, it seemed to be rather calm. Phineas sat down at what looked like his desk, and spotted a document sitting on top of a stack of pictures. He picked up the document, which was title _The study of the Angels_.

"Hm... Could this be notes on the Angels downstairs?" Phineas mused out loud. He turned the first page and began to read.

_The Weeping Angels may be as old as time itself, but no one really knows for sure. It is, however, known that they move silently and quickly, while the oldest ones makes slight grinding noises, as has been observed by Doctor Smith when he recently survived an encounter with such menaces._

Phineas thought back to the Angel he saw outside his garage. It had looked rather mottled and scarred, now that he thought about it. It made sense that those that were older would seem more damaged by comparison.

_The Angels are a unique breed of creature, learning how to stalk their prey effortlessly throughout the eons they've been alive. That being said, they have also evolved to the point where they are nearly impossible to defeat, let alone kill. While an Angel can move silently and quickly when it is not being observed by anyone, it will automatically quantum-lock itself when it feels someone is observing it and become an indestructible statue._

Phineas frowned, looking through the rest of the document. "There's no way I can stop them?"

_However, should two Angels look at each other at the exact same time, they will be frozen forever in time and eventually use up their remaining energy. As their energy fades, the Angels begin to become less and less like angels and more and more like broken stone statues. This was noted by Miss Sharp after she was able to perform tests on a quantum-locked Angel, simulating centuries of energy use, disproving Doctor Smith's theory of older ones being more scarred. It seems to be that most of the Angels have been alive since near the beginning of the universe, and their lives are much longer than anything else known to exist, as they are capable for taking millennia to die even when they have no energy and are in a permanent quantum-lock._

Phineas put the paper down, rubbing his temples, and looking out at the red sky again. "What cause that?" he thought aloud, "How did I even get here in the first place? What happened to Ferb, Isabella, Buford, Candace, and everyone else?" Now that he could sit and think, a stream of questions came to his mind, but he picked up the document and continued. First he had to get out of here before he could do anything else.

_The Angels feed off all types of energy. They have no preference, be it electrical or life energy. While most Angels are simply satisfied with sending someone they touch back in time before their birth and feeding of the residual potential energy, it seems more and more have found that the residual energy left after killing someone is greater, and therefore will help them more. As a result, more and more people are simply found dead by an Angel rather than disappearing into the time stream._

Phineas frowned. If that was true, then the Angels could take out his lights and that would be the end of it. Nevertheless, he continued reading, the sky seeming to pulsate slightly faster.

_The Angels, while possessing the reflex of quantum locking, also possess immense strength. As Professor Croomy reported, a single Angel was able to break through a three-inch-thick steel blast door in under a minute and through a six-inch-thick blast door in around a minute and a half. There is also a quote from an ancient manuscript about the Angels stating "that which hold the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel." There has not been time to understand what exactly this means, but all of the members of this project fear it could be something terribly dangerous._

Phineas flipped through the rest of the document, finding nothing else except descriptions of encounters with the Angels. His studying was interrupted by the sky, which was beginning to heave and glow a deeper red. Suddenly, there was an ear-shattering scream and the sky burned brightly as a wave of what could only be called psychic force ripped into the landscape, shattering the window to Phineas' room. When Phineas opened his eyes again, he saw the stack of pictures that had been beside the document were scattered now. They were all pictures of various Angels. And they were all staring at him.

"Oh hell," Phineas muttered, and for some reason he was wondering how the Angels got into his house, his sanctuary. This shouldn't be happening, it shouldn't. He must have blinked, because in an instant, there were eight grainy images nearly surrounding him, each one an image of an Angel. Phineas didn't know how, but he knew that if he stayed here, those images would become real. And then the whispering could be heard.

_One, two, they're all coming for you._

Phineas leapt up and sprinted out of his room, closing the door behind him and sliding down the railing, past the two Angels who were climbing the stairs, and turned the corner into yet another freezer. _Why is my house a freezer?_ he wondered, but decided to ignore it. It was his house, and it didn't matter what it looked like.

_Three, four, better lock that door._

Phineas feverishly slammed the door shut and locked it, hearing clangs on the outside as the Angels began to try and smash through the door. He looked around and found himself in what seemed to be a meat locker, large slabs of meat swinging from their hooks, some freshly sliced, others looked like they'd been there for a while. He stumbled into the racks as he heard the twisted shriek of metal, and the whispering, which seemed to be carried by the wind, got louder.

_Five, six, grab a crucifix._

Phineas tripped and fell to the ground, his hand wrapping around a piece of metal as he struggled to get back up. The Angels were still nearby, and when he looked to one side, he could see one frozen about thirty feet away with its back turned. He glanced down and realized that the piece of metal he was holding actually was a crucifix. When he looked back up, the Angel was ten feet away and wearing a smug smile. Phineas let out a shout of surprise and fear and scrambled away, narrowly missing another Angel who he hadn't seen until he noticed stone feet beside him. Phineas got up and ran through another door, slamming it shut behind him as well and pressing his back against it before standing up all the way and realizing that the whispering was getting louder as he went further into the freezer, shivering as he went.

_Seven, eight, they're beneath the floor grate._

Phineas was startled by a loud clang and spun around, seeing the hands of an Angel reaching up out of the floor. He slowly backed away before noticing that the lights were flickering above him_. _"Oh, just great," Phineas growled, remembering that the Angels could also feed off electrical sources. And if they took out the lights, then he wouldn't be able to see them, meaning he'd be dead in less than a second. Phineas backed against a wall, and he began to feel for a doorknob of some sort, hoping that the lights would last long enough for him to escape. The lights suddenly flicked on then off, and the Angel was now halfway out of the hole it had created. Phineas turned his back from his assailant and searched the wall feverishly, finally finding a door labeled _Inner Sanctum_. The rest of the sign was hidden, but that didn't matter at the moment, as Phineas wrenched open the door and pulled himself inside yet another meat locker. He could hear the screeching of the other door he had closed as the Angels tore it apart, and hoped that at least some of them would be frozen by each other's stares.

He found the light switch, and was relieved when he saw no Angels had been in here before. He turned and looked at the door, seeing the same writing printed on it, but some parts were worn away so the sign said _Inner Sanctum Of P in as Fly n's M nd_. Phineas slowly backed away, trying to comprehend what this meant. He knew from the times he'd played competitive video games with Ferb that the inner sanctum of anything was the one place that was supposed to be able to hold against invaders. If it were to fall, then everything else would too.

"If I'm right, and this is the inner sanctum of what I think it is," Phineas mused, "then my life and sanity depends on this."

The door instantaneously formed a sizable dent as he finished his sentence, startling the teenager out of his thoughts. Phineas tried to see if his powers were working, but nothing happened. He couldn't do a thing. He was left weaponless against indestructible forces of... whatever they were.

A loud screech could be heard behind him as a gash was opened up in the wall behind him. Phineas stared at it and then peeked through the meat, hoping to see another door, but there wasn't. It was actually quite weird, now that Phineas thought about it. The meats in the other rooms had been identifiable, but with this stuff, there was no telling what it was. Nearly as soon as the thought passed through his mind, the whispering came back, louder than ever, and Phineas leapt back, scared badly.

_Nine, ten, you'd better run again._

Phineas backed up into the other rack of meat, horrified. The meat had just spoken to him. His frightened eyes scanned over the meat, and then he realized what it was. Humans, skinned and left to freeze to death, hung upside-down for all their blood to be collected for some heinous act. For some reason, Phineas knew it wasn't the Angels that had done this, but something else.

"Phineaaaaassssss," one of the things hissed, "You doomed usss aaall. Why?"

"What? No!" Phineas cried out, backing away before tripping over his own feet and falling onto his back, his eyes never leaving the meat. The shrieking of metal could be heard, and Phineas looked at the meat who had spoken. He was suddenly horrified as he realized who it was. "I-I-Isabella?"

One of the other meats bared its teeth, though if it had lips, it probably would have been smiling, "Not just her, brother."

Phineas' head whipped around, "Ferb?"

The torturous scream of metal being torn continued until he could hear the clang of door being ripped off its hinges. Phineas grasped his head, "Get out of my head."

The Angels advanced, and one of the meats, which looked like Buford, began to laugh, "Say goodbye, Dinna Bell."

Phineas curled up into a ball, "Get out of my head!"

He opened his eyes, tears steadily streaming out of them, even as an Angel stood before him, Candace's face carved into stone. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Phineas screamed. Then he felt the Angel snap his neck and there was nothing.

**A/N: The Angels are obviously not mine. They belong to Stephen Moffat (who's awesome) and all the other people who work on Doctor Who at the BBC. Big shoutout to them here. The rhyme might've been replaced with "Tick tock goes the clock", but I think this one works better. **

**Now how many of you can say Mind Rape, hm?**

**See you guys next month with MOAR DARKNESS.**

**-Terra**


	11. Techie, Traitor, Super, Scoundrel

**A/N: Well I'm back! Seems a few people were disappointed with the last chapter (I know there was only one, but if one person says it, more people are probably thinking it), which goes to show that I shouldn't set a bar just in case you guys decide I can't reach it. Anyway, thanks for the note, though I'd rather it have been ConCrit than "that chapter sucked" (which is pretty much what it was)… let's see, anything else? Ah, right. In case there was any confusion about what was happening last chapter, I'll try to dispel it: the "dream" was just that, so Phineas isn't dead. Obviously, the scenes aren't meant to traumatize you, but rather get inside the heads of that specific character and torment them. Though if you've actually seen the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who, it's much more creepy. If not, I recommend you find it, especially the ones when Matt Smith's the Doctor, as they give a better insight as to what was happening. If you want the basic rundown and their first appearance, find the episode when David Tennant was still the Doctor. Anyway, enough of my rambling and on to the story you guys've probably been waiting for!**

Chapter 9: Techie, Traitor, Super, Scoundrel

"Gamma Papa, your presence is requested in Sector 13," the intercom rang out, and Clancy stood up, the others seeing this.

"Looks like I'll have to be going, boys and girls," Clancy smiled. "Don't do anything stupid without me, okay?"

Sienna grinned, "With these guys? You can never be too sure."

"Hey, I resemble that comment!" Kelly grinned widely at Sienna.

Lawr chuckled a bit before turning back to Clancy. "You get back ASAP, okay? We've still got a ways to plan before we can even think about busting out of here."

Clancy nodded. "As soon as the Director lets me," he replied, and walked off, closing the door behind him.

The plan to break off with the Agency had been hatched inside that very room, nearly as soon as they'd had free time after completing the mission. Usually, anything and everything said was recorded in every room, but Kelly had kept herself interfaced with the cameras, feeding them fake footage of them just lounging around. Lawr, Lisa, and Kelly, the three of the group who had been at the Agency the longest, had first been the only ones who had wanted to escape, and the plan hadn't been shared with the rest of Alpha until it was absolutely certain it would happen. Lawr had even told the others that if they didn't comply, they'd die by the Director's hand, not by that of their own teammates. Of course, conversely, if they did comply, then the seven of them would be free to make lives for themselves in the real world as whatever they wanted, not having to worry about the next meal or if they'd wake up the next day. Life in the Agency would always be "kill or be killed", according to Lisa, who had been on the "kill" side of things her entire life. Clancy personally felt that the most recent mission might have been the one that brought the fact out that they needed to leave. He also saw its after-effects in Lisa's behavior, though she tried her hardest not to show it.

_It makes sense,_ Clancy thought. _Hope begets doubt. Doubt begets betrayal. And betrayal, more often than not, begets death._

Lisa was one of those people who would bottle up all her emotions only to release them in concentrated bursts later on. He was usually the one who had to advise her against this, but if Lisa was anything, she was stubborn, and she hadn't listened to him. Maybe it was because she didn't grow up with him the way she did Lawr and Kelly, but Lisa was always quick to anger, quick to calm, and quick to harden and deliver the most scathing of comments. This wasn't helped by the fact that not just for her, but _especially_ for her, the Director forced the repression of any emotion whatsoever.

Clancy's thoughts were forced to halt as he entered Sector 13, where he knew the Director's personal office was. The Director stood, awaiting him. "Ah, Palack," the Director acknowledged the younger boy, "You were able to make it. Follow." The Director began to walk, heading towards yet another sector labeled "Sector 14".

"With all due respect and more, sir," Clancy spoke, the words burning his throat. He should just kill the man while he had the chance, the plan be damned. The others would be able to slip away in the ensuing confusion, get Lisa and maybe even free the captives, and then get out of the Facility before anyone could realize what had happened. But he stayed his hand. Such an action could also kill all of Alpha if he wasn't careful, and he wasn't willing to jeopardize everything on a whim. "You could have simply asked me to meet you in this Sector rather than take me for a walk from your office."

The Director nodded, "That I could have. However, I figured I'd take you to your new assignment personally."

Clancy raised an eyebrow, "Sir?"

The Director opened a door and pushed Clancy forward into a large room, following inside shortly after, "Don't worry, Clancy. It's just an internal portion for the remainder of the week or so. So only about three days or so."

Clancy nodded, "Of course, sir. Will I be using any of my powers for this?"

The Director nodded. "You shall. And before you can protest," he held up a hand as Clancy opened his mouth to speak, "I've already brought you your gloves. I saw you were in the team lounge, so I decided to have someone go get the gloves for you, since you wouldn't be wearing them and it'd be a waste of time to go back and get them." The Director handed Clancy his gloves, which he slipped on.

"Thank you, sir," Clancy replied. "Without these, I wouldn't have been-"

"You wouldn't have been able to use your lightning because of the immense amount of power you have to conduct through your hands, yes. I know, Clancy," the Director seemed slightly annoyed.

Clancy nodded, "Sorry, sir. You know everything about us. So what is it you need me to do?"

The Director led Clancy into what seemed to be the coldest room in the entire facility, four spikes coming from the ceiling and floor, two on each surface. "This is where you'll be working, Clancy. However," the Director lifted Clancy up by the throat and shoved him into the space between the four spikes, causing him to be spread eagle in the air, "you will be working here until you die."

Clancy gasped in surprise as the tips of the spikes retracted, and his arms were pulled into the now hollow cones. The same thing happened to his legs, and he was stuck in the position with no way to move himself in any way. "What?"

The Director chuckled, "Yes, Clancy. I know everything about you. Including that you were going behind my back. All of you," Clancy's eyes widened at the statement, "Kelly thought she had blocked out the sound well enough? She forgot one thing: the sound of you all breathing. Plus, it doesn't really help when someone can see her leave the room, but the security footage says that she's still in that room. I don't care what you thought you could do, I caught you all. And for that, you will die. Eventually."

Clancy snarled, "So that's why Vastile hasn't been around? You've been torturing her too?"

The Director laughed at the statement, "You think it was simple torture? Oh poor, stupid Clancy. You should know my methods better than that by now. The reward for treachery is retribution, and my retribution is always engineered so that it benefits other things too. Like this, for instance. You will be able to power the entire facility with your life for up to ten years, and we won't need to worry about energy bills!" The Director grinned widely, "Congratulations, Palack! You're helping the Agency go green! Maybe I'll even award you the 'most eco-friendly agent' medal. Posthumously, of course," the Director turned to leave, but then looked back, "Oh, and it'll be your job to keep this room cool, or else you could melt the extremely unstable metal I have in a block of ice beneath you. Should that fall, it'll punch right through the mantle of the earth and has a high possibility of cracking the earth in half. It's highly combustible under high temperatures, so just a small word of warning." With that the Director turned his back on Clancy and flipped a switch, causing electricity to arc from the ceiling to Clancy's skull. Clancy let out a cry of pain and siphoned off the electricity, sending it shooting through his hands and feet, making the lights in room light up brilliantly.

The Director turned and looked up at Clancy, who had been elevated a few feet higher by the device. "And don't worry, we'll feed some water cables down to keep you hydrated and keep your ice powers going." And with that, the Director left Clancy to scream until his vocal cords were too sore to do so.

**ΩΩ**

There was a knock on the door, and Lawr went to open it. "Oh, hello Sir. Didn't expect to see you here," Lawr let the Supervisor into the room, while all the others stayed silent.

The Supervisor didn't care. "I was told to inform you that Clancy is working an internal affair at the moment. The details are of the utmost security, so they cannot be disclosed to anyone, not even you. However, I came to get Siegfried. The Director wants him to observe a test of some sort," he told them, his form imposing an air of disinterest.

Siegfried stepped forward, "Of course, Sir. Where did he wish to meet me?"

The Supervisor led Siegfried out the door, "I shall show you."

As soon as the door closed, Lawr gathered the others. "We can't plan anything now. Three of them are missing, and our telepathic comms aren't working."

Sienna nodded, "Do you think the Director could have found out? Could that have even been possible?"

Kelly placed her hand against the wall, "I can't break into the security system without them knowing it was me. We won't know unless they say so."

Taylan thought for a minute, "We should treat this as if they did. Don't trust anyone except each other."

Lawr nodded, "Probably safest thing to do. And be careful with the others if they do come back. We'd have to evaluate them before allowing them back into the fold."

They all nodded, and left to their separate quarters, Kelly hugging Perry close to her chest. "I don't like this, Perry," she muttered, "I don't want to lose them." Perry chattered in response, and Kelly smiled a bit. "Y'know, you're an adorable little meat brick," she went into her room and plopped down on her bed, Perry still being held. "I really hope I get to keep you," she trailed off as she blissfully fell asleep.

**ΩΩ**

Siegfried and the Supervisor continued walking down the brightly lit corridor towards Sector 25, the experimental weapons testing facility. As far as Siegfried knew, the Facility was divided into departments and then sectors within those departments. He had never left the Research and Development Department in the years he'd lived here, but he knew there were other departments within this Facility. There were even other Facilities that dotted the world, many in isolated areas, such as this one. The only others that Siegfried knew of were a facility in Siberia and another in the bowels of Berlin. The Directors of all the Facilities formed a council, of which the Director he worked under was the head. Either way, this current Department he was in had close to three hundred sectors, ranging from complete urban complexes to single room sectors.

The Supervisor led Siegfried on, finally arriving at a large door. "Get into that suit," the Supervisor pointed at a suit that seemed to be carved out of a single block of stainless steel, "You are to wear this to keep you safe in case something goes wrong with the experimentation process. If it does, the suit will automatically lock up and we'll pull you back out of there and get you out of the suit."

Siegfried nodded, "Of course, sir." He climbed into the suit, "So what exactly is this experiment that I need to do?"

The Supervisor gave Siegfried a cold stare, "Ask the Director. He can explain it better than I."

Siegfried, who had just gotten into the suit, raised an eyebrow, "Oh? He didn't tell you?"

The Supervisor growled, "Be silent before I rip your tongue out. You understand, Siegfried?"

Siegfried nodded silently, and finished getting into the suit before it moved into a circular chamber, a glowing violet block sitting on a podium in the center of the room.

"What is that?" Siegfried mused, the suit projecting his voice into the chamber.

"That, Siegfried," the Director's voice crackled through the suit's headset, "is an experiment Smithers has been working on for a while. We call it a vibrum block."

Siegfried eyed the block cautiously, "What am I supposed to do? Go up and touch it or something?"

The Director chuckled, "Of course not. We merely need you to imbue it with some of your power."

Siegfried raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'some'?" he asked.

"We'll tell you when you've put enough in. Just use that power of yours that makes people more depressed, and we'll tell you when you need to stop," the Director told him.

Siegfried nodded, "As you wish, sir." He raised his arms and aimed at the block, which began to glow as he increased his concentration, pushing more and more energy into the block. Suddenly, the suit locked up, and there was a wave of psionic energy that exploded from the cube, smacking Siegfried right in the face. "Sir? Something's happening!" Siegfried told the Director as his thoughts slowly began to darken. "Sir, it's reflecting my own power back at me!"

The Director laughed, "I know, Siegfried. It's supposed to do that."

Siegfried gaped in horror, "It'll destroy me!"

"Then good riddance," the Director snarled, "My enemies are fine to be shot, but I prefer more... imaginative ways of killing them. You'll either scare yourself to death or starve, whichever comes first." And with that, the lights switched off, and Siegfried was left alone with only his ever-worsening thoughts.

**ΩΩ**

_Baljeet opened his eyes as the door to his room opened. "Do with me what you will, fiend, but do it quickly," he spoke, expecting either the Director or the Supervisor to come in and torture him. What he didn't expect was for Buford to come in and pick him up by the shoulders. "Buford?" he nearly shouted, "What are you doing? You are supposed to be stuck in that other cell! How did you escape?"_

_Buford grinned, "Does it matter, 'Jeet?" What matters is we've got a chance to get the hell out of here. Now let's move before they realize we're out of here." He pushed Baljeet forward, and Baljeet stepped into the hall, seeing the rest of the group together, many of them glad to have made it out of just their cells alive._

_Baljeet smiled, "You all were able to escape too! Great!" Of course, many of them didn't pay attention to him, as was the usual, but at this point, Baljeet didn't mind. He was among friends, and with them he could do anything._

_Buford laughed, "Course we did, 'Jeet." He put an arm around Adyson, who smiled._

_Luther spoke next, "If we're all ready to go then, perhaps we should leave before the Director decides to drop his entire force on our heads?"_

_Phineas nodded in agreement. "He's right. C'mon guys, I know where the exit is!" he called to the group before setting off, moving as quickly as possible. Baljeet and the others followed suit._

_They had been running for at least ten minutes when an alarm blared loudly, "Attention all employees. A group of nine subjects has escaped their cells. Capture them by any means necessary, and shoot to kill authorization is granted if capture is impossible."_

_Baljeet's eyes widened, "Shoot to kill authorization?"_

_Phineas sped up, calling to the others, "We're nearly there! Just a little farther, guys!"_

_Buford pushed Baljeet forward, seeing the exit in sight, "C'mon, 'Jeet! We're nearly there!"_

_Baljeet stumbled slightly before regaining his footing and rushing forward to catch up with the others, Buford at his side. They had nearly reached the exit when a group of agents came in behind them through a side corridor, seemingly out of nowhere. Baljeet yelped in surprise at the sudden threat, but Buford shrugged it off._

_He noticed that the others were at the door, trying to figure out how it would open, but having no success. "Outta my way!" Buford yelled, putting his shoulder forward and not even breaking stride as he smashed through the door, tearing it off its hinges. Everyone else gave a shout of elation and rushed through the opening he had created._

_Baljeet was with the others when they got outside, realizing that they stood in the center of a green valley, ancient trees towering over the hills that created this bowl-like shape that they stood in. Everyone else stood in awe of the sight, as it was likely the first time in a while they'd seen anything besides gunmetal panels and clinical white walls. The only reason they didn't just stay there and stare, the pursuing agents, dawned on them quite quickly, and in an instant they were off again, heading towards the trees._

_Luther was the last to reach the top of the hill, and as soon as he did, the area behind him shimmered. "That should hold them for the moment. But we need to come to a decision now. Are we going to stand and fight them, and lose a few of our own but not have to worry about them later, or shall we use the chance to escape and be hounded by them for who knows how long?"_

_Phineas stood there for a moment, contemplating, as did the others. Buford was the first to speak, "We fight."_

_Adyson lifted her head up, nodding. "I'll agree with that. We need to take these guys down, whatever it takes. We owe Jarv that much," she replied, Buford nodding sorrowfully as she finished up._

_Annabell chuckled, a crazed look in her eyes. "When? When? When do we kill them? Can we do it now? Please, Adyson? Please can we kill them all now?" she asked giddily, bouncing over to Luther and wrapping her arms around him. "C'mon! Me 'n Luther'll take em all! Let's do this!"_

_Baljeet was taken aback by the extreme character change he saw from his friends._Is this what happens if we don't win? Is this what happens if we don't get out of here in time?_He stood by as, one by one, the others agreed, though some were reluctant in doing so. In fact, Annabell nearly went ballistic when he declined._

_"No? Whaddya mean, 'no', Jeet? We've got them in our sights! We can take them down! C'mon, Jeet! It's not like you liked any of them at all, did you? You didn't, did you? 'Cause if you did, I'll have to kill you for possibly liking one of them and being a threat to our safety. You don't like them, do you?" Annabell spoke quickly, her mouth running faster than Baljeet thought was possible._

_"No, I do not. But we cannot hold against this threat. I believe the best advice would be to wait and fight another day," Baljeet replied, a bit shaken by Annabell's threats._

_Annabell responded quickly, "Bullshit. We can take them all, and you know it. You're just a little coward! Seriously Jeet, you've got invisibility and a sonic screech! What more do you need? Luther, let's take them down!"_

_Baljeet's eyes widened, "No! Don't! We won't last a second out there!"_

_Luther turned to Baljeet, his eyes glowing as he began to summon his power for the coming battle. "Baljeet, there are times where you need to stand and fight, and not run away," he moved in front of Baljeet, blocking the exit to the trees, "This is one of those times where you need to swallow your fear and trust yourself and your friends that you will survive."_

_Baljeet shook his head, "No, we cannot win this time, Luther! Get it through your thick skull that if you lower that shield to fight, we will all die! Every single one of us!" And with that, Baljeet pushed Luther slightly as he tried to get out of the way. However, his push had been more forceful than he'd meant for it to be, and Luther fell close to halfway down the hill. And that's when all Hell broke loose._

_The shield collapsed as Luther lost the concentration he needed to keep it up, and the pursuing agents charged up the hill. The first bullet hit Adyson under the chin and she flew back, an arc of crimson flying out of the hole on the underside of her jaw. The second shot came from a shotgun and grazed Buford's head, ripping off close to half the skin on his head and gouging into his right eye socket. By the time the third shot punched through Phineas' forehead, Baljeet was already running for his life into the tree line, his adrenaline fueling him as he went deeper into the forest._

_The last thing he heard before a series of shots was Annabell's scream, "TRAITOR!" And then there was no more._

Baljeet slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a soft bed, the dream he had just had replaying over and over in his head. It had been ten years since that had happened, ten years since he had escaped the Facility. And ten years since he'd run from that hill, and heard his friends die. The few that he saw die were burned into his head forever, and there was nothing he could do about it. He hardly ever wondered what had happened to the Facility, so long as they didn't come after him. At the moment, he was living out in a secluded log cabin, which he'd been given a fair price for. Of course, he knew about the stories of people getting robbed out in the wilderness and sometimes even murdered, so he'd set up a top of the line security system to make sure no one came near him without him knowing about it. At the moment, he worked for an engineering company, which Irving, of all people, had founded in hopes to try and recreate the excitement he had felt as a child.

Baljeet sighed and climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes to remove the last bit of sleepiness from them. Irving had been a bit of a nuisance, to be honest. He had asked so much about Phineas and Ferb's whereabouts so often that Baljeet had been forced to lie and say that they had gone up to the forest for a trip, and that when he woke up, the entire campsite had been completely destroyed. Somehow, Baljeet had told Irving, his spot had been passed over by whatever destroyed the campsite. Irving hypothesized that, according to Baljeet's description, whatever that had destroyed the campsite had passed over Baljeet because he had been much further away from the campfire, having decided to curl up beneath an overhang rather than out in the open. Either way, Irving had accepted the lie as the truth and had employed Baljeet as the Vice President of the company, which he had called "Global Innovations". Those events had been eight years ago, after Baljeet had finally decided to come back into the fold of society.

Baljeet was just finishing up cleaning up to head for work when a beeping noise could be heard from his room. He stepped back inside, noticing the flashing light on his alarm system. The light was only ever supposed to blink when there was an intruder on his property, which meant there was someone within the confines of his property. Baljeet glanced at the clock, hoping that it was nearly time for him to leave and he could just not come back for a while. Baljeet frowned, _2:00 am. Even Irving won't be at the building yet. I'll just have to wait for at least three more hours._ Baljeet finished his morning routine before heading into what he called his "security room", a room that connected to the cameras he'd posted throughout his property, which covered nearly an acre of woodlands. He stared at the group of screens blankly, not expecting to see anything, but then he saw a flash of something on the screen that was connected to the camera stationed at his gate, no more than a mile away from his front door. There was a flash as the thing moved, and then a glaring red light blinked on, beginning to swing back and forth as if to scan the area. It suddenly snapped straight up to look directly at the camera, and then the red light lunged forward before the feed to the camera was lost.

Baljeet scrambled to get the feed to the camera on the other side of the gate to see what it was, but what his cameras were playing back was completely irrational, and Baljeet felt to discard them. _Except that you've got_superpowers_,_ a part of him thought._As of now, nothing is truly irrational. Check the tape._ Baljeet, decidedly convinced, played back the tape, only to realize that the other camera had now been taken out of commission. He had been meaning to replace the data relay system so that he could get wireless real time data, but he hadn't thought much of it. Now he was wishing he had, since he couldn't access the data previous to what the room's computer had logged when he had focused onto that camera. It was a messy, complicated system that Baljeet had rigged himself to be full of fail safes and redundancies just in case, but now the over-complication was coming back to bite him.

The screen beeped again as four more of his cameras were disconnected, one of them being one of his specially hidden cameras that was designed specifically to avoid detection by everything. "Impossible," Baljeet whispered. There was no way anyone could find that camera. Even he had trouble locating it sometimes. He'd created a handheld device specifically for the purpose of finding those cameras just so he could retrieve that week's surveillance footage.

It took all of ten minutes before the better part of the security system he'd worked so hard to build had been destroyed. Baljeet felt as if he was a hunter's prey, and the hunter was slowly advancing to its prey's known location. He was being toyed with, and he would not allow it. He had actually purchased a rifle and some ammunition a little while back, right after he'd been warned about bears being extremely dangerous by the "Ever-reliable Stephen Colbert", as Baljeet had called sincerely him. The rifle hadn't cost Baljeet very much, as it had been purchased from Irving, who was rumored to be dabbling in the Black Market. It was a simple, long-barreled gun that was to be loaded with medium sized bullets and hadn't malfunctioned in the five different times Baljeet had discharged it.

Baljeet moved the gun, a lamp, and some food into the security room before locking it tight, sitting down in the chair with the rifle braced in his lap, merely listening as the screens would go out one by one. There was a thunderous crash, and Baljeet knew that the Red Light had broken down his front door downstairs. He braced himself, the gun shaking as he raised it at the door, waiting for the Red Light to come in. He didn't have to wait long.

The floor beneath Baljeet was ripped asunder as a hand reached up and grasped the bottom of the chair, pulling it through the floor with inhuman strength. Baljeet let out a scream and let go of the rifle as he fell through the floor, landing hard on the granite counter-top below.

Baljeet was sure that he would have to take out a few more loose teeth if he survived this, but at the moment there was more to worry about than just loose teeth. The intruder stood over him, the red light the only truly visible thing in the spotty areas of light the moon cast through the kitchen window. It raised an abnormally long arm, and the ax's blade caught the light before barreling down to embed itself into the counter a hairsbreadth away from Baljeet's ear.

Baljeet yelped in surprise and fear as he rolled away from the ax, running into the family room, searching for something to fight off the intruder. He noticed a cast iron poker beside his fireplace and lifted it up, struggling to keep it steady with one hand. The Red Light appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, and Baljeet swung the poker with all his might, hitting the red light dead on. The thing stumbled back, and Baljeet tried to press his advantage, drawing back for another side swipe. However, this time the poker was caught by the handle of the ax as the Red Light raised it to block the blow.

Baljeet quickly retreated from his enemy blocking an overhead slash from the ax. "That's not possible," he muttered, "A blow to the head with a cast iron bar should have caved in your skull."

The Red Light heard Baljeet, and responded in a deep, rough voice, "Too bad it just happened, bub."

Baljeet lashed out with the poker again but this time the Red Light caught it right below the point, ripping it from Baljeet's grasp. Before Baljeet could do anything else, the Red Light smashed his forearm into Baljeet's chest, sending him flying through the living room window and onto the porch. The Red Light was on him before Baljeet could move, nearly restricting all of his breathing. By now, the moon's light was fully upon them and Baljeet could see his attacker's face clearly. "It can't be... can it?" he mused before coughing up a bit of blood.

The Red Light grinned, "It is."

Baljeet balked, "B-Buford? You're actually alive?"

Buford chuckled, his bionic eye casting a red glare on Baljeet's skin. "Thought we were dead, didn't you?" Baljeet nodded, and Buford growled, "Well as you can see, I ain't dead. Thing is, I'm gonna have to kill ya. Your cowardice killed everyone except me."

"Buford, p-pl-please. You know y-you don't have t-to do this," Baljeet stuttered, "W-we can go f-find a-a new place a-away from the A-A-Agency."

Buford let out a bark of laughter. "Jeet, I'm part of the Agency now. Fully integrated," he tapped the top of his head, which made a metallic knocking noise. "'Sides," he continued, his metal lower arm resting against Baljeet's neck, "I've gotten much better with the Agency. Sure, I had to get over all my friends, but I've got new ones now."

Baljeet's eyes widened, "You mean Alpha? But we swore to hate them!"

Buford chuckled and shook his head, "We did no such thing." He raised a fist, "Enough talk. Now you die."

Baljeet stared up at his awaiting doom. _Could that really be true? I know I accidentally knocked the shield down, but is_everyone_except Buford dead? My own self preservation... did that really cause everyone else to die? It... it did. My lack of courage caused everyone to die and one of my best friends to turn into this monster?_Baljeet thought, and then noticed a shining silver ring around Buford's normal hand. "Is... is that what I think it is?" he asked quietly, but Buford's ears must have picked it up, because he smiled wolfishly.

"It is. Kelly's got one too, in case you were wondering," Buford replied.

Baljeet let out a single cry of despair, but it was silenced when the fist came down.

**A/N: Obviously, this one from Baljeet is more an angst dream than one of those hardcore dark situations. Seems to kinda fit the kid, as you guys know he's complaining about stuff a lot in the show. I mean, "That Sinking Feeling" and all the drama based around it was mainly him angsting over Mishti and how she'd changed. Anyway, until next time, in which there's more than one of Vastile now (though not like you'd expect)!**

**-Terra**


	12. All Your Minds Are Belong To Us

**A/N: Well it can't get much closer than this. Here's the Christmas installment of SaS!**

Chapter 10: All Your Minds Are Belong To Us

"Sigma Sierra, report to Sector 16," the intercom in Sienna's room blared, waking her from her light nap. She donned her jacket and headed out into the hall, shivering even with the extra layer between her body and the air.

It had been only three hours since they'd taken Clancy and Siegfried, she'd decided. She didn't use the word "taken" lightly, either. She was one who only accused someone of something if she felt she had sufficient evidence. And the convenient disappearance of half the team was more than enough evidence to suggest that the Director had found them out. She knew she had to tread carefully here, or else she'd be taken and tortured just like the others probably were.

Sector 16 was next to the prison block, but more importantly, it was a heated room. Sienna closed the door behind her and hung her jacket on the coat hanger, leaving only her skin-tight bodysuit. She remembered Smithers telling her something about the benefits of having the bodysuit on, but she only liked it because it too was heated. She believed she was from an area around the equator because of her love affair with warmth. She knew that Taylan, Kelly, Lawr, and Siegfried were all from northern countries, having been raised in Russia for Taylan, the Facility for both Kelly and Lawr, and Germany for Siegfried. Out of the three Germany was the most mild, but Siegfried seemed to have adapted quite quickly to the new environment and had an extreme resistance to the cold. Clancy believed he was also from the south, but further north than wherever Sienna had been born, as he had better resistance to the cold than Sienna. As for Vastile, Sienna truly had no idea where she was from. She didn't expect Vastile to tell her anytime soon either, if she even knew.

Sienna always knew she'd been the new girl into the program ever since she arrived at the Facility with the Supervisor. She knew that the Supervisor was not her father- she'd seen his true face, and they didn't look anything alike. However -in some sort of twisted way- she saw the Supervisor as the closest thing she had to a father, a thought that truly scared her quite a bit. But if she was to look further into her days in training, both for combat and for the gymnast that the Supervisor had seen her to be (she'd overhead the Director calling her the Supervisor's "pet project"), she saw bits and pieces of a paternal figure in him. Not enough to make him out to be a caring human being, but enough that she had grown just a little attached to him.

That being said, he was a horrible gymnastics teacher- many of the things she learned were exercises she found online and suggested to him that she do. Of course, this meant that she had to watch the videos extensively to make sure she was doing them correctly, as the Supervisor himself couldn't do very many, if any, of them. He was a more than competent martial arts teacher though, and she had been given many bruises and even a few fractured bones as he taught her over the years. She was never able to beat him- his abnormal strength and decades of experience trumped her agility and youth in the end- but there had been a few times where she had come close. No doubt that this was a request for her to go for a trial run to see how much of her ability she'd lost after acting "normal" for the majority of two years. She had hoped to enroll in the martial arts school nearby her high school, but the Supervisor had insisted that she maintain a low profile and therefore forbade her from going there. Sienna had snuck in at night and practiced one time, beating the hell out of every single bag at the place before returning to the safe house around dawn. She was running on empty for most of the morning, until Vastile forced her to drink some coffee and "get her ass in line".

Sienna sighed in relief as she saw the bars were set up along with a few stationary punching bags she'd practiced on before she'd left for the mission, the Supervisor sitting in a chair, looking at a clipboard.

Sienna saluted her superior, "Hello, Sir."

The Supervisor nodded for her to relax, "Good morning, Sienna. I'm sure you've figured out what I called you in here for, correct?"

Sienna nodded, "Of course, Sir. You wished to see how my skills have diminished since I haven't had much of a chance to use them until recently."

The Supervisor nodded, "Correct. I took the liberty of acquiring your music device from the safe house during the raid on the Flynn-Fletcher houses, so I'll allow you to choose the music, if any, you are to use to display your skills." The Supervisor handed Sienna an iPod that she had believed was lost after she realized she had forgotten to take it with her.

Sienna nodded, taking the device in her hands, "Thank you, Sir."

The Supervisor grunted and went back to his clipboard, flicking through a few more pages. As he did so, Sienna grasped the neck of her bodysuit, unzipping it and removing the oversuit to reveal the undersuit, which was basically skin-tight spandex. She hardly ever did this in public, as she felt it was too revealing to have only the undersuit on in the company of others. However, she felt it necessary for maximum flexibility during these sessions. As soon as she'd plugged the iPod into the speakers, five male agents walked in, Thaddeus behind them.

The Supervisor motioned to Thaddeus, "Phlint, to me."

Thaddeus complied, leaving the five agents standing before Sienna. Thaddeus whispered something in the Supervisor's ear, and Sienna's superior grinned. "Sienna," he ordered her plainly, "kill them."

The music began even as the agents rushed Sienna, and she bared her teeth and charged.

_It's in your eyes, a color fade out,_

Sienna struck first, not even beginning to wonder why she was to kill these men. She knew the Supervisor had a blatant disregard for most human life, but for her to simply kill five men? It seemed rather odd, even for him.

_Looks like a new transition._

The agent whose face she had smashed her fist into dropped back, blood leaking from his nose. His partners moved closer, their skin all the same pallor.

_They're starting up, and shaking your ground,_

_Turning your head to see a new day calling._

Sienna gritted her teeth and inhaled sharply as a punch from one of the four caught her in the side, most likely fracturing a rib.

_Does it feel like a head to lean on?_

_A snapshot from where you were born?_

Sienna's fist broke the offender's nose, which released a gout of crimson liquid into the air. She knew that they were deadly, and she had to kill them to end the threat to her own life.

_You're caught in the wire..._

_Well I'll lift you out._

Sienna drew another breath, preparing herself for the coming battle. "This is going to be hell," she muttered as the fifth agent recovered and returned, making it five on one. And then the music began, and Sienna just began to flow through the group, lunging at the agent in the center and toppling him over, her hand crushing his windpipe with a single squeeze.

_Leading on the action,_

_Caught out of cell phone range._

_Bleeding on the sofa,_

_Staring at the waistline._

_He's coming and she knows it,_

_Even though she knows why._

_Footsteps from the hallway,_

_Girl you haven't got time.  
_  
Sienna punched and kicked for all she was worth, sometimes shifting into Clancy or Lawr when she needed more power than she could provide herself. One other agent went down after she smashed his rib cage in, but she took a beating too, taking what felt like a solid block of steel to the jaw. She knew that she'd lose a few teeth before this was all over.

_You gotta get out,_

_Go far away._

Sienna was suddenly caught in a hold from behind by one of the agents, and the other punched her in the face, smirking as he heard the crackling of bone that meant her nose was broken. Sienna growled and spit blood into the agent's face, and growled as she did something she swore never to do.

_You gotta get out,_

_Go far away._

Sienna broke out of the agent's hold and stood up a few inches higher, the Director's voice resonating from her mouth. "Die," the word was cold and calculating, the sound of steel scraping against stone mixed with the voice of a heavy smoker. Sienna lifted one of her enemies up by the collar of his shirt before using the Director's formidable strength to flip the man around and hold him by his ankles before hammering his form down so that his head met the concrete floor.

_Darkness in the bedroom,_

_Maybe she's resting up?_

_Maybe she was out late,_

_Just come back from the club._

_I can't here her breathing,_

_Something doesn't seem right._

_Kill her in the hallway,_

_We're living on a set time._

Sienna stood there, the blood of her final opponent covering her hands. She was no longer the Director, only a young girl who had just brutally murdered five grown men.

_You gotta get out,_

_Go far away._

_Yeah, you gotta get out,_

_Go far away..._

The music faded as Sienna took a step back from the bodies littering the floor around her, horrified at what she'd done. She had been taught how to kill, but to smell the blood and hear her enemies gasping for breath as they died, the entire experience of killing someone, was too much for her. Sienna back further away, trying to tear her eyes away from the bodies on the floor, but couldn't bring herself to look away. This room had been her sanctuary, where she could do whatever she wished without worry of anything else. This room had never tasted another's blood except hers once when she had hurt herself during a routine. Now there was a spreading pool of blood on the floor, with bone and brain splattered in a sunburst around its owner's head.

Sienna looked up at the Supervisor, who observed her with a coldness she'd seen before. However Thaddeus, despite himself, was grinning after seeing her entire display.

"Not going to lie," Thaddeus spoke, getting both Sienna and the Supervisor's attention, "that was actually pretty damn sexy."

"I don't need compliments from scum like you, Phlint," Sienna snarled and lashed out, chopping Thaddeus in the throat. "I hope I broke your windpipe," she spat at him as he lay on the floor gasping for air.

Thaddeus coughed and got to his feet, catching Sienna's fist as it tried to catch him around the neck, "What the hell's wrong with you, Sienna?"

Sienna's eyes welled up, "For years, this was my one place that I could just cut loose and forget about whatever was outside, and now you've shattered it by making me kill inside it! You ruined my entire life, Phint! I will rip your heart out and shove it down your throat for this! You made me break so many promises I made to myself in this room that you aren't allowed to survive!" She overpowered Thaddeus and he landed on his back with her straddling him, tears streaking her cheeks. "I'll kill you for this! In less than five minutes, you destroyed my entire life! I'm not letting you live for doing that!" Sienna screamed, delivering punishing blows to Thaddeus as he tried to block most of her attacks.

Sienna felt herself rising off Thaddeus, a strong hand grasping her by the neck. She struggled violently as the Supervisor bodily lifted her into the air, her hands trying to remove the back of her neck from his iron grip.

"There will be no need for killing now, Sienna," the Supervisor stated calmly, "If anyone should be killed, it should be you, actually."

Sienna froze. "What do you mean?" she squeaked, her tears slowly stopping, "I've done nothing wrong."

The Supervisor tightened his grip around her neck as Thaddeus stood up, wiping blood from his mouth. "It may not be my place, sir, but I think we should kill her," he spoke.

Sienna could almost feel the glare the Supervisor was giving Thaddeus, and it amused her slightly to see Thaddeus squirm under his gaze. "You are correct," the Supervisor spoke, and Sienna's blood ran cold, "it is not your place. You will leave us now."

Thaddeus left, obviously unhappy with the end result of his efforts. Once he left, Sienna turned to the Supervisor. "He destroyed everything," she whispered, a shadow of her former more energetic self, "And you did too." She looked up at the Supervisor, "Why?"

The Supervisor released his hold on her, and she fell to the ground in a heap, not have enough energy to stand on her own. The Supervisor gazed down on her before speaking, "We know." Those two words shattered Sienna's world.

"Know?" she tried to reply innocently, "Know what?"

The Supervisor frowned slightly, "That Alpha has betrayed the Agency. Why else do you think we've been isolating you one by one?"

Sienna choked back a sob, "And Clancy and Siegfried? What about them? And what about Lisa? Did you kill them?"

The Supervisor shook his head, "Perhaps they may die soon, but the intent was not to kill them. They are merely suffering."

"And me? What do you plan to do with me? The same as them, I suppose?" Sienna's eyes looked up into her superior's own.

"Close enough," the Supervisor replied. "But first," he lifted Sienna to her feet, "I suppose I ought to apologize for giving you any sense of security. I merely saw potential, and you interpreted it as something else, I believe."

Sienna started. "You... you've never said anything like that before," she said, looking bewildered.

The Supervisor nodded, "True. If you were not of my blood, I would not have said a word."

Sienna balked, "Y-you're blood? W-what do you mean? Are you my... my father?"

The Supervisor raised an eyebrow. "No, I am not your father," he answered, and Sienna visibly relaxed, "You are the spawn of my brother."

"I...I..." Sienna was at a loss for words, something that hardly ever happened.

"It need not matter to you now, Sienna. You have greater things to worry about," the Supervisor replied, procuring a syringe. Sienna saw the object and cried out, struggling in the Supervisor's vice-like grasp to avoid the needle. "Struggling only makes this worse," he stabbed the needle into Sienna's upper arm and injected the fluid before releasing his niece.

Sienna stumbled away, "What did you do to me? What was that supposed to do?" her final question was spoken a few pitches higher, and she began to change. "What? What's happening to me?" she cried out, and then transformed into a girl half her age.

The Supervisor nodded in approval. "It works, then. Good. As for what that is, it will make you transfigure into everyone you have seen in your lifetime, and add all their personalities to your own. A fitting punishment for your treachery against the Agency," he picked Sienna up by the shoulders and dragged her out the door to face a bewildered Thaddeus. "Phlint, send a team in there to clean up," Thaddeus nodded wordlessly and the Supervisor dragged Sienna next door, pulling her down the corridor. As he did so, he looked down at his niece and smiled humorously at her. "Good think you're next to the prison block, huh? Makes it that much easier to do this," he opened the door to an empty cell and tossed her in, "Goodbye, Sienna." The Supervisor turned and left the room, leaving Sienna to suffer as her body twisted and contorted into five different people at once, their personalities ripping into her own.

Taylan held his knife downward in one hand the other splayed down on the table. He looked up at the Supervisor as he stepped into his quarters, the Director behind him. "Sirs," he acknowledged them without looking up, and then cleanly stabbed the blade in between his fingers in quick succession. His practice complete, he wrenched the knife out of the table before spinning around and blindly throwing it at the wall, hitting the bulls eye perfectly. Taylan turned back to his superiors, the knife still wiggling in its place in the wall. "Did you need to see me for something?"

The Director nodded, "We wished for you to come with us. Your powers of duplication are needed to test a fighting style that Smithers wished to observe."

Taylan nodded, but then frowned, "If you three are to watch me, then who is to observe the captives?"

The Supervisor spoke, "Smithers will come and observe you once you have perfected the art. He is observing the candidates for the moment. Now follow."

Taylan did so silently, passing by Sienna's empty room. Taylan, startled, examined the flows of energy only he could detect and found that Sienna's unique energy trail led from her quarters to her training room, and then the trail went cold inside it. As the Director and the Supervisor led Taylan deeper into the bowels of the Facility, he created a duplicate of himself, sneaking back and knocking quickly and quietly on Lawr's door, praying that he was there. As it turned out he was, and no sooner had Lawr opened the door did Taylan rush inside and lock it behind him.

"Taylan!" Lawr hissed, trying his best to keep his voice down, "What the hell are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in here!"

Taylan silenced his friend with a look. "They caught us, Lawr," he spoke plainly, and Lawr spun to stare at the Russian.

"What?" Lawr whispered, doing well not to be overheard, "What do you mean, 'they caught us'? What about Sienna or Kelly? And what about you?"

Taylan shook his head, "Sienna is dead, I think. Her energy signature just stops in her personal training room. Your sister is alive, but I don't know how long the Director will keep it that way. As for me... I'm a copy. I don't know what they're going to do to me, but I know I won't make it out to see you and Kelly escape."

Lawr just sat down on his bed, staying silent for a while. "Sienna... are you sure? And what about Lisa? Clancy? Hell, what about Siegfried?"

Taylan shook his head, "All their energy signatures are dead to me also. Whether or not that means they're gone or not, I can't say for certain, but it looks like they will not be joining you and Kelly any time soon."

Lawr frowned, "I'm not going to lose anyone if I can help it, Taylan. Anyone who's still alive, we _will_ get them out of here. No exceptions. Hell, I don't care if I have to make a pact with the Devil, I will get all of you out of here or die trying. You can count on that."

Taylan smiled at his friend, "As much as I would like that, are you willing to risk the safety of your sister over the lives of others? She's your only family, you know."

Lawr shook his head, "Wrong, Taylan. All of you are my family. Kelly's my blood sister, Lisa's my annoying yet fun twin sister, Clancy's my awesome big younger brother, Siegfried's my brainy little brother, you're my Ruskie brother, and Sienna... she's..." Lawr punched a wall in anger, "Damn it, she can't be dead! I'm not losing her! I'm not losing any of you!" He pulled his hand away, the knuckles having split open from the force of the punch.

Taylan put a hand on his friend's shoulder, trying his best to comfort him. "Lawr, you need not blame yourself. We all chose this path, and we all knew it had its risks. I'm asking you to take Kelly out of here, Lawr. Even you- especially you- should know that it's not worth it to risk her life for ours," Taylan looked into Lawr's eyes, "You know she's still innocent. She's not like us; she hasn't been jaded yet. You need to keep her that way."

Lawr hung his head. "I hate this feeling, Taylan. The feeling of helplessness. I don't want to risk my sister's childhood for all of you, but you don't deserve to be left here," Lawr got up and hugged his friend, "After she's safe, I'm coming back and getting you guys. I don't care if I have to drag myself through Hell or kill God, I _will_ save you. All of you."

Taylan smiled, "First help your sister. Worry about us later." He turned towards the door, "You've been a great friend, Lawr. I hope that you and Kelly make it out of this place alive." With that, Taylan turned and disappeared from Lawr's quarters, leaving his friend to ponder an escape route to save his sister.

Taylan returned to walking behind the Supervisor and the Director, who had finally reached their destination. "What is it that you'd have me do, Sir?" Taylan asked, and the Supervisor turned to the teen, his eyes sparkling with menace.

"Die," the Supervisor spoke simply, and jammed a syringe into Taylan's neck and depressing the plunger as far as it would go. Taylan stumbled back, his vision blurring and refocusing multiple times as he felt himself being lifted up and tossed into the room. When he finally sat up, there were at least twenty of him laying around him.

"What was that supposed to do?" one of the forms asked, looking rather frightened.

"Does it matter?" another growled, his face pulled back into a permanent snarl, "We're completely screwed, and that's all that matters. But I don't expect idiots like yourselves to understand that."

Another Taylan frowned, "Why can't I sense all of you at once? I should be able to sense all of your emotions and whatnot."

"Heheh," yet another form chuckled, "Hive mind: All your minds are belong to us."

"Good lord, you're like a male version of Vastile," one of the forms rolled his eyes.

The Supervisor's voice came over the intercom. "The fluid you were injected with will make your duplication powers run wild and disable what you'd call the 'hive mind'. You and your copies will go insane from the constant splitting. Have fun dying," then the intercom cut off.

"What! No! I don't want to die!" the first Taylan, Fear, cried out and rushed to the doors, trying to open it.

"Face it, kid. We're completely screwed. You should at least be able to understand that," the second Taylan, Hostility, replied, his eyes shooting daggers into all the others.

"Damn it, I should be able to control all of you! If I could, then we could get out of here!" the third Taylan growled, annoyed.

"Shut up, Self Control," Hostility snarled, "I'm done being your slave. Go whine to someone else."

"Hm... could we ask for help?" the fourth one asked, "I'm sure we could get some. I mean, since this going up near Christmas, I think, maybe we could ask for an early Christmas present..."

All the other forms looked at him. "You're insane, Vastile," one of the others told the form.

Vastile frowned, "Shut up, Spock!"

"It's not 'Spock', rather 'Logic'. Please try and get it right," Logic told him.

"Dude, you just need to chill out, man," yet another form spoke, "You guys take everything so seriously. You just need to relax."

Hostility lowered every finger on his hand until only the middle one was raised, "Go fuck yourself, Passivity."

"If we were not split into so many different forms, that would be physically impossible," Logic told Hostility.

"But wait! We aren't Greek! We've gotta be from Ancient Greece to be good examples of manlove!" Vastile cried out, "So unless you see Kelly around, I don't see any of us getting it on any time soon."

"Heh, who says it has to be Kelly? There's always others... like Lisa. Or even Sienna," one of the forms grinned widely.

Self-Control looked at the other form, "Sienna isn't really around at all, Lust. You're not gonna get her."

Lust shrugged, "I'm sure one of the captives'll be fun too. Besides, I can pretty much charm any girl. You saw that with the little blonde girl back in sophomore year. She was falling all over herself and I only walked by her."

Logic just shook his head and turned away. Hostility and Passivity were arguing- or rather, Hostility was shouting at Passivity for being so "weak-minded"- Vastile was sitting facing the wall he had dubbed "four" and talking to it- he was clearly the first to go insane- and Self-Control and Lust were discussing the pros and cons of their separate aspects. "Do you think any of them will make it out of here, Insight?"

Insight thought for a bit, "I do not know, Logic. We may be torn apart by our differences before any of us figure out a way to escape. Even if we were able to reunite, it would be impossible for us to function very well as a whole until we had some time to recover. This means even if the Director were to reunite all of us, we would be too unstable to do too much for at least twenty-four hours."

Logic nodded, "Moods long since repressed have surfaced, and I think even more will soon enough. Hostility will eventually beget Rage, I think, and at some point I'd figure Depression or Shock will make its presence known."

Insight frowned, "We must stay on alert at all times, Logic. For now, debate with Vastile. He may be insane, but he's one of the only ones who will help us if those aspects appear."

Logic grimaced at the idea of working with Vastile, but nodded. "It makes sense, I suppose," he replied and moved towards Vastile, who was speaking to a wall.

Insight sighed as he watched the scene before turning to a form beside him, "What do you think will happen, Foresight?"

"I know not what will happen to us, friend," Foresight spoke, one of the most malicious Agents in the Agency controlling his actions from the observation deck, "But I feel there may be much death before we learn our fate."

Buford snapped his eyes open as he was dragged out of his stupor only to see the Director standing in front of him and Adyson still beside him. He growled at his captor, "What do you want?"

The Director clasped his hands behind his back, "I thought it only logical to bring you out of your stupor. It seems Vastile did not feel like breaking you was that important. Either that or your emotional strength is herculean. To be safe, I assumed it was the latter and chose to put you on a different treatment."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but believe me, I'm going to tear this place apart as soon as you unstrap me," Buford snarled. The Director chuckled and procured a taser as a response. "Oh. Damn," Buford felt the barbs punch through his skin and he jerked as the electrical current ran through his muscles, temporarily paralyzing him.

The Director worked quickly, releasing the restraints on Buford's chair and dragging the paralyzed boy out of the room and down the hall, slipping a small necklace out of his pocket. The Director paused for only a moment to place the vibrum necklace around Buford's neck before placing him in a pure white room, the only objects in the room a table and two chairs. He then turned and closed the door behind him, and Buford stood there for a moment before going and sitting down in one of the two chairs.

Inside the observation deck, the Director sat at the control booth and folded his hands over each other before leaning his upper lip on the two. "You made sure to calibrate the vibrum like I instructed?" he asked as Smithers moved beside him.

"Of course, Sir," Smithers replied, "The vibrum absorbed enough of Vastile's powers to create a mental alteration field just large enough for the subject, but not too large that it would affect others. Unless we hooked him up to a machine, we have no idea what's going on in his mind." He tapped his hip, on which a revolver in its holster rested, "Just in case."

The Director's sunglasses flashed as the light from the room Buford was in bounced off them, "You should know that I carry my own, Smithers. And I am a better shot than you."

Smithers nodded. "True enough. Still, it doesn't hurt to be cautious," he sat down beside his superior.

The Director didn't move, "And what of the other condition you spoke of? Have you figured out what that was?"

Smithers nodded, "As we suspected, the machine amplified not just part of Vastile's powers, but all of them. Her mind-altering abilities have gone through the roof and completely destroyed the perception of the captives. By the time they finish whatever hells they're going through, a month will have passed."

The Director nodded, "Very good. It will make our newest recruit's transition all the easier."

Buford sat in the chair for a long time, long enough for him to count the panels in the room- there were forty-six of them -before the door opposite him opened and a brown-haired woman stepped out, sitting down in the remaining chair and occupying the space across the table. At least, he hoped someone had. The sudden removal from anesthesia had left his mind muddy.

"So, Mister Van Stomm," the woman began, though Buford was having trouble placing her accent, "you wish to work for the Agency? I admit, we do not usually have that many volunteers, but," the woman handed Buford a packet of paper -his resume- and continued, "you're certainly qualified. As you've specified, you have no qualms with beating others senseless and your military training shows that you don't worry about killing people. Before I go any further, is this correct? Is this you?" the woman leaned forward, approval reflected in her brown eyes.

Buford scanned through his apparent resume, "Marine Corps... yes. Hand to hand combat... yes. And the experiences are correct. So unless there's a clone of me running around, this is me." The brick of vibrum around Buford's neck glowed bright, but neither person paid it any attention.

The woman nodded. "Good to know," she extended a hand across the table, "My name is Natasha Klashnikov. My codename is Lucky-9, but most people call me Nine," Buford took her hand and shook it, "You ready for a tour, then? Then we'll send you for basic. Even for a marine, there are still things you need to know."

Buford nodded and stood up, the vibrum glowing like a miniature sun before slowly darkening as the power housed within it did its work. Buford chuckled, "Some things never change, do they?"

Nine grinned and led him out to begin his training with the Agency under the gaze of the Supervisor. "And then some things change in an instant," the Director murmured to himself as he got back up. The other captives still needed to be checked on and he had to make sure the machine Vastile was in was working correctly. All in all, it was what he called a good day.

**A/N: First off, the song, obviously, is not mine. It's "Witchcraft" by Pendulum, so if you're interested in seeing it, go look it up on Youtube. It'd probably help with the flow of the scene anyway… Ah well. Perhaps I should've said that earlier. Too late now.**

**And of course I'm going to probably get people saying "Oh, Buford would never do something like that ever". And this would be true if it was just Buford by himself. So pipe down about it, or else you'll probably look like an idiot, as I've explained it twice to you now.**

**ANYWAY, final notes… SaS is nearly one year old! Aaand… I haven't gotten too far with it, have I? Eh, whatevs. It'll get done when it gets done. If you've stuck around through my ramblings this long, good job! Here's a Merry Christmas to you! Or Happy Holidays, if you want to be politically correct. But then again, political correctness is stupid.**

**Happy New Year, and see you guys next year!**

**-Terra**


	13. What One Does for Another

**A/N: I'm baaaack! Yeah guys, sorry about the hiatus: School and the SAT test happened. Good news is that I was finally able to get this put out! Unfortunately, I missed SaS' first birthday by a long shot, but hopefully I'll be able to finish this before its second birthday (meaning summer may have more than one chapter per month, for those of you wondering).**

**Before I begin: Lancelot didn't have the time to beta, so we've got another guest-star beta to bring onto the crew: Maya Serena!**

**Anyway, you guys are probably chomping at the bit to get going, so let's begin!**

Chapter 11: What One Does For Another

Lawr walked through the halls of the Facility, watchful of anyone who would spot him. Unlike many things, the rules for when he could and could not go into the halls had never been discussed, leading him to make the assumption that the Director didn't particularly care. Such an unknown left him wandering the bleak halls of his home aimlessly. It had been about three weeks since he and the rest of his family- he couldn't call Alpha anything else because they were so close -had returned in triumph, eagerly awaiting whatever would come next for them. He had dreamed of the outside world since he was a small child, and after being able to experience it for a few years he had come to love it, the simple freedoms he had been allowed. He had been able to do whatever he had wanted, and it did feel like he had squandered it on the mission, no matter how important it had been. If he hadn't been so cautious, he would have hoped to grow up in the Facility to be a senior agent so that he might be able to venture out into the world once more.

Of course, he couldn't. As soon as he had gotten back, he'd brought the boy, Luther, into interrogation and questioned him about how he had known about his own identity as Alpha. Luther had simply laughed in his face, for which he received a punch to the nose. Not hard enough to break it, it seemed, but enough that it taught the fool his lesson. The stubborn boy didn't really seem to understand the gravity of the situation until the Director had shoved him into that glass booth and forced him to watch the horrors that went on in his friends' minds along with that of his sister. After that, he had called Alpha to their personal meeting room and then instructed his sister to tamper with the cameras just enough that they'd see them acting normal. Instead, he'd had everyone sit in their respective chairs and stepped to the front and began to talk to them. He described how free he had felt in the outside world, and how much better it had been than here. Most were surprised, mainly because he was not usually the most open person in the world. But the experience had changed him, for the better in his opinion. Together with his sister covering their tracks, Lawr and the rest of Alpha had planned for their escape from the Facility for good. He had hoped that Vastile would show up, but she never did.

It had been almost three weeks since she disappeared, and after that had come the methodical isolation of the rest of Alpha. No more than a week ago, after Taylan had given him his final warning, Lawr had seen something he never would have expected to see: Buford, the large captive Alpha had taken down, inside one of the training rooms, training with Natasha, or "Lucky-9" as she was called by the members of Lucky Thirteen. Not only that, but when Buford saw him, he stopped what he was doing and saluted Lawr as if he was a superior. There was something that made Lawr uneasy about seeing such a powerful person who had once been his mortal enemy salute him with no ill will whatsoever. He didn't know what it was that could cause the large boy to turn on his friends, but he didn't expect it to be anything of his own free will.

He finally arrived in Sector 15, the area where they'd been keeping all the prisoners, and stepped inside. He had already instructed his sister to rewire the camera feeds, and she had done it so well that not even the Director could have figured out she did anything wrong. At least, that's what she had said. Hopefully this time she would be correct, as Lawr quietly suspected that it had been Kelly's fault, albeit accidentally, that cause everything to happen. He just hoped that what he was about to do would buy her enough time to escape.

**ΩΩ**

Annabell didn't even bother to open her eyes as she heard her door slide open. It had opened and closed enough times for her to know she shouldn't even bother with the insults. Most of the ones who came in didn't bother to talk either. They just punched in their hours and flicked a switch on a wave gun and went about their business. The agents never even bothered to move closer to her, the tubes running into her veins pumping ample nutrients into her body as they kept her alive. Over what she guessed to be about a month – though in reality it had only been a few weeks – she had grown so filthy that she didn't think she could recognize herself in the mirror.

The welcome change came when she didn't feel any pain for an extended period of time after the door closed. Slowly, so she wouldn't be blinded by the constant light, she opened her eyes to see a male about her age checking the computer that showed her vital signs. The figure turned as her eyesight focused and got as close as he could to her, the Plexiglas wall in the center of the room dividing them.

"Annabell? You're Annabell, right?" he spoke quickly and sharply, his eyes flitting back and forth.

She nodded, her caution and drowsiness making her head move sluggishly, "That's me... why?"

The boy spoke fast, "You want your freedom, right?"

This raised Annabell's suspicions. No one had ever asked her about freedom; she thought it was an impossible dream by now, "Why are you asking?"

The boy seemed on edge, "Please just answer the question. I don't have much time to be here."

Annabell was perplexed. None of the other agents had ever uttered the word 'please'. Nevertheless, she found herself replying quicker than expected, "OK, yes. I'd love to have my freedom. Now why are you asking?"

The boy sighed in what seemed to be relief, "Good. He hasn't broken you that far yet. Listen Annabell, I'm Lawr. You remember me, right?"

Annabell growled softly, "Yes, I do."

Lawr nodded, "Great, your memory's working correctly. I know you don't like me at all, but just hear me out this one time, OK?"

Annabell tried to shrug, but wasn't able to do so, "Not like I have much of a choice, do I?"

Lawr began, "When Alpha – that's my team's codename, Alpha Squad – got back from the outside world, we realized something. We realized just how confining and oppressive the Director is. He's kept us under lock and key since we were small children and probably stunted our growth after we saw how well you guys in the outside world are able to interact. This meant that the only way we could compensate was with some kind of competition or violence. At least, the guys did. The girls... I don't know how they were able to integrate themselves, but they did well. I think Vastile had a screw loose already and Sienna just followed her lead, but my sister seemed to not only integrate herself in well, she nearly _became_ what you'd probably call 'normal'... and then, just like that, the Agency swooped in and pulled us away from paradise."

Annabell could see the feeling in him. Even from here, she could see the spirit of camaraderie in his eyes when he spoke of his entire team, the resentment he held against the Agency now, the hatred he had developed for the Director, and most powerful of all, the sheer determination in his eyes. He was planning something. Something big.

Lawr continued after his brief pause. "From then on I knew that Alpha had to leave this place. We started spending more time in our team meeting rooms, discussing back and forth what we should do and when we should do it, all with my sister using her powers to cover our tracks," Lawr seemed less confident about the final statement, but continued nonetheless, "but I don't want to strain her for too long. She can only hold up for so long."

Annabell eyed Lawr suspiciously, "You're the one that put me in here. Why should I trust you?"

Lawr sighed. "There isn't a reason I could say that would be able to convince you more than I've already tried," he moved towards the door, "I suppose if you can't trust me, then you shouldn't take that chance that you might see the outside world again, correct?"

Annabell's mind made a snap decision, "Wait." Lawr turned around, a slight bit of surprise on his face, and Annabell continued, "If what you say is true – the escaping to the outside world again part – how would you do it?"

Lawr seemed to heave a sigh or relief, or maybe it was just Annabell thinking he did. One way or another, he stepped back to the Plexiglas barrier. "It's rather simple. My sister disables the security systems and frees you, and then she leads you and whoever else you can find to the landing bay. Here's to hoping one of you knows how to fly."

Annabell would have crossed her arms if she was able to do so, but she settled for frowning at Lawr, "I notice you conveniently left yourself out of that inclusion."

Lawr nodded sullenly. "Not for the reasons you may think, though; I'm planning for the worst. Getting my sister out of here is my first priority. If I survive the Director's purge, I'll be looking for the rest of Alpha. If I'm able to join you all, so be it. But don't count on it."

Annabell softened slightly, "This is all for her, isn't it? For your sister, I mean. I'm sure you feel bad for us, but this is all to make sure she leaves this place, right?"

Lawr's eyes glanced up at her in surprise, "How did you – ?"

The ghost of a smile passed over Annabell's face, "Honestly? I probably would have done the same thing. My sister means the world to me, and if I had the chance to get her out of here... it may not be under a completely sound conscience, but I'd do what you're doing."

Lawr nodded, "I should probably go. I guess we can just say that you'll know when the plan's put into effect. You should end up meeting the others out in the hall when it is."

"I'll be waiting for that, then," Annabell replied as she watched Lawr step out of her room, and for the first time in the duration of her stay at the Facility, Annabell felt a glimmer of hope.

**ΩΩ**

Lawr stepped out of Annabell's room, feeling better than he had before. As far as he could tell, no one knew what had gone on in that room and he had been able to gain support with one of the people he had captured. The next chance he got, he would find something suitable for a toast and invite Kelly to join him. Having finished his talk with Annabell, he decided to leave. He knew some of Annabell's friends and family were being held here too, but he couldn't risk speaking with them all in one night. If Kelly messed up, even slightly, he couldn't let the Director or any agent see him speaking with another prisoner, or else they'd know something was up. At least with just talking to Annabell he could protest an isolated event.

Lawr turned to leave the cell block, but something in his mind kept him from leaving. He knew he wanted to go, but there was something that prevented him from taking those final steps and opening that door, instead rooting him in the spot he stood.

_Hello, Lawr,_a voice spoke inside the boy's head, _Don't worry about your inability to leave. I just wanted to ask you a few questions about what just happened in Annabell's room._

Lawr had enough experience with telepathic communication, and his only qualm about this speaker was that her voice – her mental voice, at least – sounded extremely raw. It was safe to assume that whoever this telepath was, she was inexperienced. _If you know what happened there, then you shouldn't have to ask me any questions,_ Lawr thought back.

_This may be true,_the voice conceded,_However, I'll still ask you some questions to be sure what you said is true._

_And what exactly did I say?_Lawr asked, skeptical that the voice had actually heard what he said. If the voice had heard him, or sensed telepathically what he had said, then it wouldn't need to ask him questions. It would have been able to sense his feelings if it had peeked into his mind while he was pitching the plan to Annabell.

If there was such a thing as a telepathic growl, the voice did it. _Fine, I wasn't able to hear what you said. Annabell's room is shielded from telepathy, but this hallway is not._The cell door beside Annabell's cell opened, and the voice sounded eager for him to enter. _Come in, and if you don't piss me off I can let you leave._

Lawr sighed and nodded, entering the pitch black room as the door closed behind him. _I suppose for safety's sake we'll keep this a telepathic conversation?_

"No need," the voice replied, "I destroyed all the surveillance equipment in this room."

"Oh?" Lawr raised an eyebrow, "And no one said a word?"

A wheeled instrument could be heard moving about, and a smoldering heat lit up the palm of Lawr's hand. The noise stopped, "Ah, very good. I may have spatial awareness of this room, but it's best that we speak face to face, no?" The noise started up again, and soon the speaker was revealed in the glowing light of Lawr's palm.

Lawr raised an eyebrow, "Phineas' sister? I used to know your name..." he searched for the name, "And three weeks later I've forgotten it."

The woman frowned, "You're not making your chances for leaving here any better."

Lawr eyed her, "You're kidding, right? Last I heard you were someone who didn't like fighting, let alone trying to _kill _anyone... Candace? Is that it?"

Candace pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Yes, it is. Now quit stalling. What were you talking to Annabell about?"

Lawr nodded, "I was talking to her about getting out of this place."

Candace closed her eyes and was silent for a moment, "After practicing with the powers for about three weeks or so, I've been able to acquire a bit of a 'stealth mode', if you will. It lets me look over the surface of your mind and know your feelings and other things without being noticed."

Lawr frowned, "I'd rather you look into my mind as little as possible."

Candace nodded, "I was only checking to see if you were telling the truth. And from the quick look I was able to take, it seems you were. Now what was this plan?"

Lawr repeated the plan to her, word for word, "I was planning to tell the rest of the people in cells about this and enlist their help, but separately so as not to attract any attention."

Candace waved her hand dismissively. "Don't bother. The adults' cells aren't shielded; I'll tell them."

Lawr raised an eyebrow, "You're in, then?"

Candace nodded, "But I'm not going to let you keep the plan exactly as it is. From what it sounds like, you're going to be using my brothers and their friends as a screen for your sister to get out of here."

Lawr eyed her, "And you're telling me that you wouldn't do the same if you were trying to save one of your brothers and it was only Alpha that could help you?"

Candace frowned, "There's a difference, boy. Alpha is composed of people who've actually done bad things. And not just regular 'bad'. You see where I'm going with this?"

Lawr sighed, "Be that as it may, I hadn't planned for your brothers and their friends to act as a screen for my sister. I expected the two groups to work together, and maybe be joined by the rest of Alpha. I've been told they're dead, but I'm not going to believe it unless I see bodies."

"OK, fine. This conversation is starting to go nowhere, so I might as well make you owe me," Candace replied, "If we're going to do this, some of us may need to stay behind and help the escapees from afar. Even though you think you know a bunch of information about this place, I've been mentally probing around, field testing my powers, and I don't know if you realize just how huge this place is. You'll need someone who knows the entire layout of the place, and not just one section of it."

"Besides my superiors, I don't know anyone who knows the entire layout," Lawr answered, a quizzical look on his face, "Did you find someone?"

Candace nodded rather smugly for someone who had been locked in a pitch black room for close to three weeks, "I memorized it myself."

It took Lawr a moment to realize what she was saying, "You're going to stay behind and telepathically guide them out of here."

Candace nodded, "Not just that, but if I can get deep enough into their minds, I can activate the full potential of their powers. Without that, at their age, they'll never make it."

"Full potentials that would normally take years to surface in a teenager would only take moments," Lawr mused, "However, something seems off. How did you get such full control over your powers in a relatively short time span?"

Candace clicked her tongue, "You forget, Lawr, that I am an adult now. Not only that, but the emotional trauma that was inflicted on me on the trip over here was so bad that it would have awoken anyone's full potential after the collars were removed. That, along with three weeks of what was basically non-stop training besides eating and sleeping for what was likely a few hours each day, amounts to me having a relatively wide scope of control over my powers. I haven't tested a few things, but most of them have been tried and tested on either the adults you also have housed up here or the guards, who are surprisingly mentally unshielded. I would have expected someone like the Director to have planned for a telepath to be held here."

Lawr laughed bitterly, "You mistake the Director for someone who cares about his employees. The only ones who are mentally shielded are the sergeants, special agents, and up. So that means the rest of us agents are free game."

Candace frowned, but nodded in assent, "Good to know. But back to the matter at hand. I can help your friends and mine, but there is a price."

Lawr eyed her suspiciously, "I had thought so. What is it?"

Candace looked at the floor for a moment before looking back up at Lawr, "You have to stay with me."

"Of course."

Candace drew back in surprise, "That's it? Just 'of course'? No argument whatsoever?"

Lawr chuckled, amused that he had surprised her, "You need someone to watch your back while you guide everyone through to the Facility. I came to ask you for help, and so I am already in your debt. It's fair that you would ask that of me, and I try not to leave any debts unpaid."

"I see," Candace replied, "If there's the chance, we'll work our way onto a separate bird and meet up with the others."

"I don't expect that we will," Lawr told her, "but I suppose it pays to be hopeful."

Candace extended her hand, "We have a deal, then?"

Lawr took her hand in his and shook it firmly, "We do. I'll leave instructions with Kelly in case the Director decides to remove me next. In the meantime, try to keep from getting discovered. We lose you and we lose everything."

Candace nodded, "I'll relay the information to anyone I can and set up a plan. Until then, good luck."

"Same to you," Lawr replied and extinguished the light from his palm before turning and exiting Candace's room. _We've got a new plan, Kelly,_ Lawr sent across the telepathic link he had retained with his sister against the Agency's wishes,_I'll speak to you in person about it when I get the chance._

_See you soon then, _Kelly replied. _I need to see if there's anything I can use to make platypus food around here. Perry's getting hungry again and he nearly ate his hat last time._

**ΩΩ**

Adyson opened her eyes simply to close them again. "You have a fetish or something for bright lights, don't you, guys?" she asked no one in particular, "It isn't healthy. Whitens your skin. And as much as I hate you guys, I wouldn't want anyone to look like a vampire from 'Twilight'."

She could hear someone whimpering not too far from where she was in response. Curious, she slowly opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the inhumanly bright light that shined down on her. What she saw was something she never wanted to see.

"A-Addie..." Annabell lay face down on a metal table, her head turned to look directly at her sister.

Adyson was too shocked to say anything for a few moments before she snapped out of her stupor, "Anna? Anna, what happened? Are you ok? What did they do? Who did-"

"I regret having to harm such a girl for your benefit, Adyson Sweetwater," a voice over the intercom interrupted her, a voice who Adyson immediately recognized.

"You!" she shouted, "When I get you, I will gut you like a fish and make you eat your own balls before burning you alive!"

The Director chuckled over the intercom, "I actually have no regrets harming your sister. I was going to kill her anyway. However, since you seemed to have been able to sustain such a degree of punishment we have inflicted on you," Adyson finally noticed a throbbing in her arms and looked up to her restrained limbs, seeing a mass of cuts and bruises on them, "we felt that we would use your sister to break you."

Adyson snarled back at the Director, "Why are you bothering to tell me this? Now that I know your plan, it won't work."

"Not necessarily. I tell you my 'plan' because it is the inevitable. Your sister will suffer. And she will do so until you renounce everything you have ever known. Be patient: my associate is taking his sweet time getting over to your sister's cell."

Adyson tried to struggle against her restraints, but her wrists and ankles had been secured tightly enough to restrict her movement severely. Those and the belt around her waist that had been threaded through the loops on her jeans and behind the device she was held in restrained her body movement almost completely. "Whatever you're going to do to her, I will stop you! Your associate will drop dead before I let him lay a hand on my sister!"

"Unless you can escape and kill him in... twenty seconds, Ms. Sweetwater, your sister is doomed to her fate."

Adyson tugged at her restraints, the skin beneath them chafing and finally rubbing off, rivulets of blood sliding down her arms only to stain the sleeves of her shirt. Still, she pulled harder and harder, the tough leather hardly giving an inch as the Director counted down.

"Ten." Adyson's skin continued to tear as she struggled violently.

"Nine." Her fingers couldn't reach the buckles of her restraints, but they nearly could. If she could just stretch a bit further...

"Eight." It would take too long. She resorted to turning her arm back and forth, hoping that she could slip it out if she turned and pulled hard enough.

"Seven." Annabell watched her sister struggle, her eyes shining with tears at the futility of her sister's task.

"Six." Adyson tried to wrench her hand from the restraint, but cried out in pain as the leather dug into her hand and through the first layer or two of her skin there.

"Five." Adyson moved to her feet, hoping that she might be able to pull those free first.

"Four." Her feet couldn't move. Desperately, Adyson's fingers scrabbled against the buckles on the restraint's holding her arms, still gaining hardly any purchase.

"Three." She stretched her fingers to the limit, all the time looking at her sister, analyzing every detail. Her dark brown hair. Her pale, bare back. Her dark blue eyes, shining with tears. Her- _Wait__, _Adyson thought, _Bare back?_

"Two." No. That couldn't be what was going on. It had to be something else. There had to be some other reason for it. _No__,_ Adyson thought firmly, _T__hat can't be it. I won't let that be it._

"One." The door to Annabell's room slid open, and the tears finally started to stream from Annabell's eyes. _No. No. NO. I won't let this happen to Anna! I __will __stop this! _Adyson struggled against her bindings, but still nothing gave her any kind of opportunity for escape.

The man the Director had been waiting for stepped into the light, and Adyson shouted incoherently as she tore at her bonds, desperately trying to stop the man in the same room as her sister. Annabell looked pleadingly at her sister, but Adyson could not get free. Adyson was simply forced to watch as Thaddeus stood behind her sister, who suddenly emitted a scream of pain.

Thaddeus bent next to Annabell, his mouth beside her ear, and growled, "You're vocal. I like that, girl." Annabell's only response was a whimper as Adyson was forced to continue to watch them.

"No!" Adyson screamed, and struggled as hard as she could, still to no avail, "Damn you, Thaddeus! Get away from her!"

Thaddeus paused in the act and looked over at Adyson, smiling, "No." He turned his attention back to Annabell, who cried out again.

Adyson craned her neck around, trying to find a microphone for her to speak into, "Stop this! Wherever you are, stop this! I give! Just let Anna go!"

Thaddeus paused as Adyson's words rang out. "Is that all then, sir?" he asked, Annabell still shaking and whimpering beneath him.

The Director's response was short, "No."

Adyson and her sister both displayed a look of shock across their faces. "But you said-"

"I said we would break you, Ms. Sweetwater," the Director interrupted, "Phlint, you may continue as you see fit."

Thaddeus grinned, "Yes sir." Annabell screamed again as Thaddeus turned his attention back to her.

"Addie...!" Annabell screamed, looking into Adyson's eyes, "Help me...! Help me-!" The rest of her plea contorted itself into an incoherent scream and then fell silent.

The last thing Adyson saw before everything faded away was her sister's now-dull sapphire eyes, staring directly into her soul.


	14. Silence for All

Chapter 12: Silence for all

It wasn't often that someone got called into the Director's office for good behavior. As far as Lawr knew, it had never happened. Thus, he was more than a little worried when the Director personally summoned him to the massive office that the head of the Agency occupied. Vastile had once tried to explain the reasoning for such a large office, when all it held was a desk, a few chairs, and the Director.

"It's simple," she had said, "He uses it to keep an elephant there."

Taylan was the one who asked the question on everyone else's minds, "What elephant?"

"Exactly!" Vastile had replied, grinning until she realized that no one else understood what she was talking about, "Eh, screw it. You guys don't get any jokes."

She had also named the staircase that led up to his office, calling it "the Stairs of Shame".

"I would've called it the Trail of Tears," she said, "but it isn't a trail. It's a staircase. Besides, 'the Stairs of Tears' don't give off the same effect."

As Lawr climbed the Stairs of Shame, he could almost imagine Vastile beside him, humming some extremely happy song, like she always did when she was stressed. Not many people knew her well enough to know that, but both Lawr and Sienna did. Lawr could only assume that whoever Vastile's psychoanalyst was knew, and by extension, the Director did as well.

Lawr finally reached the door and raised his hand to knock, _Well Kelly_, here goes. _You do know what to do if he keeps me from coming back in any way, right?__  
_  
Kelly's mind was giving off a rather glum wave of emotion, _Yes, I know. Let's just hope it doesn't have to come to that, okay? I don't want to lose you like I have everyone else.__  
_  
Lawr nodded, knowing what she meant, _I'll try my best to come back alive, Kelly. I don't want you to lose anyone else either.__  
_  
With that, Lawr cut the conversation off and knocked on the door, which opened on his third knock. "Come in, Alpha," the Director's voice could be heard.

Lawr stepped inside and closed the door, walking up to the Director's desk and taking a seat, "You wanted to see me, sir?"

The Director nodded, "I'm glad you could come so quickly, Alpha. I'll get straight to the point: we've got another mission on our hands here. I've received some disturbing news of a telekine not too far from here. He seems intent on ravaging the world for his own enjoyment, and we're the only response force that's close enough to handle him right now. As such, you and I will be accompanied by a squad of agents to take this one down."

Lawr nodded, "How far away is the target?"

"Glad to see you're back to the way you used to be, all business," Lawr's blood ran cold for a moment, "For a while there, you weren't really yourself, were you?"

"I suppose not, sir," Lawr replied carefully, "The experience I had in the outside world was... jarring, to say the least. But now I'm back to the way I used to be. Sir," he was careful to look right above the Director's eyes- he'd been in the same room as the man when he'd interrogated captives, and the man had a knack for catching lies.

The Director seemed to pay him little heed, "Well, this time you shouldn't have to worry. We'll be moving by helicopter over to a local town. Hopefully, the telekine will be nearby. Depending on how powerful he is, we may be able to kill him before we even put our boots on the ground." With that, he waved for Lawr to follow him, and Lawr obediently fell in line behind him as they moved towards the hangar, where a quartet of other agents of varying ages stood ready and waiting for them.

The other four agents got into the helicopter without a word, one of them cradling a sniper rifle across his lap, should they get the chance. The Director signaled for take-off, and the rotors revved up to speed before the retroactive whisper motors kicked in, muffling the sound of the engines as the blades spun faster. The helicopter took off almost silently, and before Lawr knew it, they were off.

**ΩΩ**

It didn't take long before Lawr saw the smoking remains of a town. He knew as gas fire when he saw one- it was his job to know. Nevertheless, his assumptions were confirmed when one of the agents that accompanied them got the same results from the wreckage. The Director had taken the binoculars and found their prey amongst the debris and smoldering ruins of a gas station. Apparently, the telekine hadn't had enough practice before going on his rampage and had succeeded in destroying the town at the cost of blowing himself up. Luckily for all involved, the town was so backwater that no one even came by to get gas there, meaning there was no cleanup needed to keep the world more or less ignorant of the existence of those with supernatural abilities.

Lawr leaned back in his seat and sighed in relief, something he hoped not to convey to his superior, lest he start asking questions. He had been worried that something bad would happen, but it seemed as if everything was going to be just fine now. There was now no chance that anything would be attacking the helicopter. Aside from the Director—that was his main worry—the fact that a telekine could have simply smacked the helicopter out of the air if he had been powerful enough made his stomach drop. The Director, however, was still a threat, but Lawr couldn't help his eyes starting to droop. He hadn't been sleeping too well in the last few days, and upon the Director calling him he had been awake for over twenty-four hours, almost thirty-six. Even though he kept telling himself to stay awake, he eventually gave in to the urges from his brain and drifted off to sleep in his seat.

**ΩΩ**

Lawr was jarred awake when someone shook his shoulders. His eyes snapped open and he looked around, seeing the four agents and the Director around him.

"Wake up," one of the agents spat at Lawr, "The Director wishes to speak with you."

Lawr attempted to unbuckle himself, but the Director's hand over his chest restrained him before he could. "We don't enjoy harboring traitors, Alpha," the Director spoke coldly, and Lawr froze. The Director chuckled, enjoying his surprise and fear, and continued, "Yes, we knew about your betrayal quite early on. Why do you think we've been eliminating your team, one by one?"

Lawr tried to lunge forward, forgoing his fear for anger, "You!" he shouted, "What have you done with them? Where are they?"

The Director chuckled coldly as the other agents pinned Lawr against his seat and snapped a limiter collar on him, "That is of none of your concern, traitor. You should be more worried about yourself."

Lawr felt the emptiness that the collars imposed hit him, and he finally stopped struggling, "You've gotten all of the traitors, then," he spoke as calmly as he could, "What happens now?"

The Director smiled, "Well, your sister will need to go through a complete training and conditioning session first. We can't have her remembering who you are and getting any ideas when you don't come back, now can we?"

Lawr growled, "If you so much as touch her, I will tear your throat out!" By now, the helicopter had landed and the agents hauled Lawr out onto the permafrost, the Director climbing out behind them.

"And how will you do that, Lawrence?" the Director asked, "By the time we leave, you'll have no transportation, no food, and," he procured a pistol from its holster, "no legs." Having said that, the Director aimed and fired twice, one shot hitting one of Lawr's kneecaps, then the other doing the same.

Coldness more harsh than any blizzard hit Lawr as he crumpled to the ground, blood spilling out from the exit wounds of the shots, "I'll get you!" he shouted at the Director as he and the other agents climbed into the helicopter, "No matter what, I'll find you and I will destroy you and the Agency for all that you've done!"

The helicopter flew away, none of its passengers so much as sparing a glance over at the former agent who now lay in the snow. Inside, the Director turned to the agent who had put the collar on Lawr in the first place, "Deactivate the limiter."

The agent he'd spoken to raised an eyebrow, "Sir?"

The Director replied, "Turn off the limiter. He can't reach us from here, and considering whenever he produces flames, he loses body heat, he won't try. Should he survive, though, he may yet be useful to me." _Luckily for me,_ the Director thought, _that chip in his head is built to resist anything he could throw at it._

On the ground, Lawr's limiter collar beeped once and opened, releasing him and allowing him to light his hand on fire, albeit for a moment. He looked down at his legs and winced, "Need a tourniquet. Can't bleed out, not now." Lawr tore a strip of cloth off his shirt, which was underneath the jacket he was wearing, and tied it around one of his knees. Lawr bared his teeth as intense pain shot up his legs, but he was having trouble feeling anything below the knee. "C'mon, don't be gone, come on," he spoke as he tried to move his feet. His feet twitched below the ankle, signaling that the shots were damaging, but they could be healed. "Need to find a town," he muttered, "Need to find somewhere to heal," he looked up at the sky, "I'm sorry, Kelly, but I won't be any help. Good luck."

**ΩΩ**

He heard the engines of a helicopter landing. "... gone. He was a..."

No. It wasn't enough to understand. He needed more. Softer voice this time. Female. "... gone? But he can't..." Voices fading, replaced by the other sounds. Fans on computers as they heated up, pebbles tracked into the halls crunching as people stepped on them. Old ovens snapping and cracking as they heated up. Food sizzling. Screams of pain. Shouts of anger. Crowds of people arguing. The ever-changing voice.

The voices behind the glass as well. They spoke up too. "... working optimally. Keep running the tests..." Too much sound. So much sound, it blocked out every other sense. He was blind; too much sound. Footsteps as one of those behind the glass walked out. Door closing, back to normal.

Back to listening. Too much, though. Could hear everything, but couldn't understand it all. The Listener, that's who he was. The Listener. Always listening. Like now. He heard the voice he heard before. Female, young, considering the pitch. Maybe his age. Crying. He could hear her well. Could hear the tears land on cloth. Could hear her pain. If he could have helped her, he would. Deeper voice again. Not with the other voice. "... Alpha is gone. Traitors, all of them."

Different voice, deep but with only a bit less authority than the speaker. "Except for her?" He thought they were speaking about the crying girl.

"... shall see." the first voice spoke again. "... sure she's alone. The only thing left for her to hold on to is..."

No! Needed to know the answer! Deeper in the building, other voices. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. Too much. Couldn't find the voice anymore. Just noise, noise, noise. Then a sound. A bell chime. Too loud, much too loud. Next up was touch. The feeling of touching everything, everywhere, being stretched apart, being everywhere and yet nowhere at all. Had to find a way out. But he'd be blind again, and he would know nothing of the areas he was feeling. Next stop, oblivion.

The agent inside the booth turned the dial on the machine, and then Jarv heard no more.

**ΩΩ**

Kelly waited until nightfall before she walked into the hall that her brother had spoken of and let her mental barriers she'd built drop, _I'm alone, Candace._

Candace's voice spoke in her mind, _It seems you are. Your brother's gone?_

Kelly withheld a whimper at the mention of him, _Yes. My brother is dead._

Candace seemed to freeze for a moment, _...I'm sorry for your loss, then._

Kelly sat down on the floor, _Tell me everything you told him and vice versa. I'm your only chance of escape now._

Candace mentally sighed, _Make sure there's no one here, and then come inside. We have a lot to discuss._

**ΩΩ**

They waited until Epsilon had left her room. The Director didn't care where she was going anymore- she would be getting a new set of indoctrinated thoughts, erasing every bit of rebellion from her mind soon enough. All that mattered was that she had left, leaving the one thing she still could hold on to behind.

The Supervisor stepped into Kelly Thorton's room, his eyes scanning for the girl's most prized possession. He found it sleeping at the foot of her bed, curled up into a little ball. Taylan had called it an abomination. Vastile had jokingly called it a "morality pet". Kelly had called it a souvenir of sorts. To the rest of the world, it was called Perry the Platypus.

Only one thing was missing from the creature, though- its drive to fight evil. Once an agent to a defunct offshoot of the Department of Homeland Security, Perry the Platypus had lost all his skills and memories of fighting evil at all, thanks to Dr. Doofenshmirtz, who had unwittingly been victorious for once in his life. Now, Perry was a simple platypus, running off base instinct rather than a highly-advanced mind that had controlled the OWACA agent he had previously been.

The Supervisor scooped up Perry quickly and silently, the creature shifting slightly as it adjusted itself to its new bed. The Supervisor snarled, "Disgusting creature." Perry didn't respond, and so the Supervisor crouched down and picked up the fedora Perry used to wear, bringing it with him as they exited the room.

It took at most ten minutes for them to arrive at the place where they kept the animals. The Supervisor watched as dogs snarled at the bars of their cages, cats hissed and spat, and a few larger animals opened an eye to watch their master walk past them. Finally, the pair arrived at a large door, the Supervisor setting Perry on a small shelf before he entered. Behind the door, a manufactured cave sat, seven large dogs curled up near the back. They all heard the door open, and when they did, they got up, trotting over to their master, their tails wagging. The Supervisor rubbed each of their heads in turn before allowing them to sniff his gloves, which still had Perry's scent on them. Each dog sniffed his gloves and they each growled softly in turn, signaling that they were ready. The Supervisor stepped back outside for a moment.

He looked at the shelf that Perry sat on, grinning a little. "The world may have called you Perry the Platypus," he spoke to the animal, "but my dogs have a different name for you: dinner." With that, the Supervisor grabbed Perry and tossed him lightly through the doorway, closing it behind him.

As he walked away, he could hear growls and crunches, and perhaps a single gurgle, and then all was quiet.

**ΩΩ**

It was only a little past dawn when Isabella woke up in bed, the sunlight just starting to poke through the window. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, "Ugh. What a horrible dream."

Someone shifted beside her, and she looked over to see who it was. The glimpse of red hair was all she needed to see to figure out who it was, _I'm sleeping with Phineas._

Phineas rolled over to face her, his blue eyes staring into her own, "Morning, Isabella."

Isabella smiled and stroked his hair, catching the glimpse of gold around her finger, "It's a very good morning, isn't it?" She felt as though she was almost in a dream-like state, laying with him here. There had been nothing more that she wanted than what she had right now, and now that she had it, it felt wonderful.

Phineas grinned, "It's always a good morning with you around, Isabella." As one of his hands moved to brush a stray lock of hair out of her face, she saw a matching band of gold on his hand.

Isabella smiled softly as she felt his hand brush the hair behind her ear, his touch unnaturally cold. She drew back in surprise the slightest bit, a confused look appearing on Phineas' face as she did so. Isabella laughed a little and put his hand between both of hers, "Your hands are so _cold_, Phineas. Keep them under the blankets next time, ok?"

Phineas chuckled and interlaced his fingers with her own, "Of course, Isabella."

They sat there for what felt like hours, idly talking about what amounted to nothing, before Isabella finally decided to get up, "What do you want for breakfast? My treat."

Phineas grinned, "In that case, I think I'll have pancakes. Just try not to burn them this time, ok?"

Isabella smiled at him, "I'll try my best, dear." It took a few minutes to find something to dress in appropriately before she went out the door and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

As soon as she left their room, though, the bedroom door disappeared behind her, and the walls began to mottle and crack, exposing rusted metal panels beneath the paint. The ground crunched under Isabella's bare feet and she looked down to see a decaying concrete floor beneath her. A single fluorescent light flickered from the ceiling, barely giving enough light for Isabella to see as she slowly moved down the stairs, frightened beyond all belief.

A sound of metal scraping against metal to her right made her turn sharply toward the noise, planning for her hands to flare up with flames so she could illuminate the source. However, nothing happened. _No powers_, she thought to herself. _Whatever it was, I won't be able to fight it if I need to. This is_not_good_. So instead, Isabella turned and ran down a hall as fast as she could go, trying to get away from whatever the sound was.

She felt like she was running for hours before she found other people. They were two women in nurse outfits, sitting around her rusted and ruined kitchen table, sipping coffee. Isabella froze in the doorway and one of the nurses turned to see her, smiling comfortingly, "Hello, dear. Is there something wrong?"

Isabella stood there bewildered for a moment before she replied, "I-I don't know. There was something that sounded like metal on metal, and it sounded like it was chasing me, so I tried to get as far away from it as possible."

The other nurse looked curiously at Isabella, "As far as we know, we're the only two people here. Well, us and that very nice man."

Isabella looked at the other nurse, "Nice man?"

She nodded, "Yes. He gives us anything we need, and lets us stay in his home. I think his name is-" she froze before she could finish her sentence.

"What? What's his name?" Isabella asked, looking from one nurse to another, but each one had frozen, the one who had last spoken convulsing as well. "What's going on?" Isabella asked the first nurse, who had also started convulsing. The lights in the kitchen flickered and went out for a moment, and Isabella heard an inhuman roar then the scrape of metal on metal again. She searched frantically for the lights and found the switch, restoring light to the kitchen.

As soon as the lights flashed back on, Isabella was confronted by two bipedal abominations in nurse outfits, one of them holding a kitchen knife in a mangled knob that used to be a hand. Isabella stepped back and cried out in surprise as the creature closest to her, the one with the knife, took a swing at her, the blade barely missing her. Isabella did the only thing she could- turn and run as fast as she could down the hall, away from the "nurses" and whatever else was chasing her. For whatever reason, she seemed to remember there being weapons in the room she was coming up to, so she slowed down and carefully opened the door, closing behind her when she found nothing inside.

The room housed a boarded-up window, a flickering light bulb, and a pistol and one magazine that sat on a table in front of her. Carefully, Isabella stepped forward, her hand reaching out in front of her before she snatched up the pistol and magazine, loading the gun. She had no idea how she knew how to do it- as far as she knew, she had no experience with any lethal firearm -but the idea that she could possibly defend herself gave her some small comfort.

The noise, whoever or whatever it was, continued to move down the hall and Isabella took the other door in the room, which led into yet another hallway, this one even more decrepit than the last. Behind her, the door she had entered the room through buckled under her pursuer's blow, and Isabella slammed the door shut behind her, rushing forward with the pistol in hand. As she continued through the hall, the entire structure seemed to distort around Isabella, the walls warping and tearing open a bit as she moved deeper and deeper. Isabella tried her best to pay the new changes no heed, hoping that whatever was happening would end as soon as she got back to her room. Moving as fast as she could, Isabella finally found the stairs that she'd gone down before, and at the top of everything stood her bedroom door.

With a cry of relief, Isabella bounded up the stairs two at a time, throwing open the door and then locking it behind her as soon as she got inside, the pistol still gripped tightly in her hand, her knuckles white. "Phineas!" she shouted, "Where are you? There's something outsi-" she turned back to look at her bedroom, only to find a completely trashed room with the walls burned dark brown and the carpet ripped up to expose a rusted floor. "What... What happened here?" she asked no one in particular, "Ph-Phineas? Phineas, where are you?"

The only sound was the grating of metal on concrete and footsteps ascending the stairs, which Isabella knew could only be her pursuer. Slowly, she backed up towards the far wall, holding the pistol with both hand, trying to focus the shaking sights. She glanced down to realize her hands were shaking as well. Only a few moments later, the footsteps stopped at the top of the stairs and seemed to try the door, which Isabella had made sure was locked. There was another inhuman roar from behind the door, and suddenly, a five-foot long blade pierced the doorknob, stopping three or four feet away from Isabella's abdomen. Isabella cried out in surprise and the gun went off, sparking off the blade firmly fixed in her door. The blade was pulled back, and the creature smashed the door of its hinges, giving Isabella a full view of itself.

The creature looked human from the ground up to its neck, but after that, everything changed. The creature wore nothing except for a butcher's smock soaked in blood, originally colored white so it stood out in the darkness. Just like its smock, the creature's skin was extremely pale, almost as white as its one article of clothing. The creature's body itself was horribly mangled and deformed, and the creature seemed to hobble as it stepped out of the doorway, as if one of its legs wasn't as long as the other. Behind it, it dragged the blade it had used to cut through the door- a gigantic blade that almost shrieked as it was dragged along the ground. The biggest and most glaring deviation from a human was the creature's head, which was completely black and looked almost metallic. A few holes pockmarked the creature's head, but it seemed not to affect the creature whatsoever. What Isabella found most frightening, though, was the shape of the head. One end was much longer than the other, but there was no changing it: the creature's head was in the shape of a pyramid.

Isabella cried out in fear and took a step back even further as the creature advanced, pulling its blade back to strike again. Isabella retreated as fast as she could, aiming the gun at the creature's head and firing three times. All three times the bullets hit their mark, and all three times they bounced off the pyramid of a head the creature had. Isabella finally reached the far wall and almost jumped forward in surprise when she touched it, trying her best to focus on killing the monster before her. When she only counted two shots left in her pistol, she decided to try something else, this time aiming at the creature's chest and firing twice for good measure, both of the bullets piercing the creature's smock and exiting out of its back. Both of them froze for a moment before the creature dropped to its knees, the blade falling from its hand and hitting the floor with a resounding clang. Blood flowed steadily from the wound in its chest before it uttered a single rasping word in a familiar voice, "Isabella..."

Isabella froze on the spot, "...You know me? But how- oh no. No no no no no. Phineas? Phineas, is that you?" The creature just barely inclined its head before it slumped to the ground, dead. Isabella began to cry as she fell to her knees, touching the thing that had once been Phineas, "I'm so sorry, Phineas, I'm so sorry!"

She stayed there for what felt like an hour, crying until all the tears dried up, her sorrow and guilt continuing to grow the more she sat there. Finally, she slowly stood up, wiping the tears from her face, "I'm sorry, Phineas... I never meant to do something like this to you." Isabella headed for the door, her guilt continuing to rise, when she heard a scraping once again, and turned around, only to get hit by the blade of the creature that used to be Phineas. She screamed in pain as the blade pierced her abdomen and ran her into the wall, pinning her to it. The creature rumbled as it moved closer to her, its wound slowly closing up even as Isabella watched it, her guilt taking precedence over her fear, "I... I killed you..." she spoke, blood dribbling out of her mouth, "Now... Now you can kill me."

The last thing Isabella heard before the creature's fist cracked her head wide open against the wall was a screech, and then all was quiet.

**ΩΩ**

The Director sat and observed the feeds to each person's mind at his desk, watching as Isabella's head was smashed in by something he remembered Vastile calling "Pyramid Head". Each of the tortures was well-made and personalized especially to the victim, from the rape of Adyson's sister by Thaddeus to Phineas and his Angels of stone. They showed what was best and worst about their creator, Vastile, at the same time- her creativity. While it could be impressive, like it was here, it was also her downfall, causing her to take too much time in doing certain tasks, making her rather inefficient.

The Director's reverie was interrupted when the Supervisor stepped into the room. "How go the tests?" he asked, eyeing the screens in front of the Director.

"So far, Vastile seems to be doing well," the Director replied, turning the screens around so his lieutenant could see them. "It is interesting how when condensed, they seem to span only a few hours, when in reality, they've been going on for almost a month," he continued, "I'm sure it will break them, or at least put them on the very edge."

"Too bad we'll have to recondition Vastile, then," the Supervisor replied, "Speaking of which, how goes the campaign into her mind?"

The Director nodded at the first portion of the Supervisor's statement, "I should breach the inner sanctum soon. So far, her mind has been built as if it was a fortified library; castle walls surround a fortified central building, and the most I'm given are siege weaponry and unending reinforcements to work with. What of our newest recruit?"

"So far, Van Stromm seems to be doing rather well," the Supervisor replied, "We're saving the training with powers until a bit later, but for now we're considering placing him on the next Alpha team with Epsilon."

"A worthy path for one such as him," The Director replied, "Update me when you're further along with the project."

The Supervisor nodded and stepped back out of the Director's office, leaving his superior to prepare for his war against Vastile.

**A/N: I blame my own laziness for not updating. This was supposed to get out much earlier in the year, but got delayed to what I'd hoped for was Halloween, and then delayed again. Consider it an early dark Christmas gift, if you like. (or Apocalypse gift, if you want to look at it that way) Hopefully, I'll get back into the swing of things soon enough. We'll just have to wait and see.**


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